Nothing exciting about our morning. Lance spent the morning trying to wrap up work as this will be his last day to work online, since hopefully tomorrow we will have the boys. And I spent the morning fighting with my computer and trying to get the blog to work and a back up blog at http://lanceanddeb.blogspot.com.
The boys were very excited to see us when we walked in the orphanage. Their first question was whether or not they would be leaving the orphanage today, tomorrow or when. They know that on Fridays they go to Babushka’s and were planning on going there if we were not able to pick them up. Lance was trying to explain that they had to stay at the orphanage tomorrow, because depending on the paperwork and how long it takes, we may get to pick them up. We just don’t know what tomorrow is really going to hold. Is had snowed some today, so the weather could keep some from working tomorrow. Who knows! The boys were very sad, because they were counting on tonight being their last night at the orphanage. Lance called Nina and asked her to explain the situation, so that they could understand it better. She did, and the boys realized that we would get them as soon as we could and that they would get to see Babushka this weekend. We definitely are not leaving without seeing her. Plus, we still have her present to give her. It is so hard for them not knowing exactly what is going to happen when, and we can totally understand, because we are in the same boat.
Tolic seemed to want to be around me more today, which was good for my ego. And Lance, being the wonderful husband that he is, just sat back and let me play with the him. We looked at the videos on the camera and Tolic had a few good laughs at some of them. This lead into the other kids coming and laughing at them too. Then, Sergey, a wild child for sure, was interested in the scuba diving video that had been on the computer and that lead us all into a scuba diving and shark conversation that was pretty interesting. Then Roma, came in and got to see the videos and they decided to make some more funny videos. So, they went into the hallway and took turns dancing. The videos were quite hilarious. I was going to share parts of them with you, but the boys deleted them off the camera without me knowing. So, they are gone, but oh they were funny.
I then asked Tolic where they slept, since we had yet to see their living quarters. He told me upstairs and I asked if we could see it. He asked the teacher and she said yes. So, she gave us the key and upstairs we went. Well, we learned why they are always in their classroom. They don’t really have a living quarter like the classes in Mariupol do. They have bedrooms and that is about it. We went into their bedroom and there were 12 or 13 beds in this one room. That is where all the boys sleep. There was one wardrobe in the room with all of their clothes in it and two or three end tables and that was it. I can’t imagine having that many boys in the room at one time, because there was barely room for us to walk around in it.
In the hallway there was a couch that folder out into a bed. When we went up there, they started doing flips on the bed. At first, I tried to stop them, because I didn’t want them to get in trouble. But, I think this is used for their normal gymnastics mat all the time. I took a short video of them on my camera and will post it here if the computer allows me to.
It was a great day with our boys. And, silly me, I feel needed today so I’m back to normal. On our way out, we met an America Jessica that had been living in Ukraine for one year. She teaches at the school. She teaches the boy’s class English, piano and arts and crafts. She said that the boy’s class is always busy doing something else, and so it had been awhile since she had seen them. She brought in two letters, one for each boy that was written by a girl that had visited and fallen in love with them a few months back. I gave Jessica our contact information and told her that we would love for this young lady to keep up with the boys in America if she wants to.
We talked about her mission work, the mission work we did, and believe it or not, she knows Jenny! Jenny is the person that started first home similar to what we lived in here in Ukraine. She married Andrew, our friend and co-worker in Mariupol. What a small world. She was from New Hampshire and us from Texas. We met in Zaporozhye, Ukraine and knew the same person. God works in mysterious ways. We had told her we sure wish we had met her earlier when we didn’t have much to do. Now, our busy time is going to start and we won’t get to know her better. We did exchange contact info though and look forw
ard to corresponding with her. I’m glad she was able to bring the letters today since hopefully we will be taking the boys tomorrow.
Saying good-bye today was fun! First, it took several minutes to get the camera away from the kids. They were enjoying watching their flips in slow motion! Then we walked out to the hall and they did not want to see us go. We told them hopefully one more day and then we would get to be a family! They were so excited. The excitement was growing in them by the minute. We laughed, tickled each other, hugged, and played hand games before we could say good-bye. Lance gave them both a kiss and the look on Tolic’s face was priceless. I had to make him do it again so I could get a picture. He was happier in this picture, but it still drives him crazy! Dima, is such a love bug! He hugged me and kissed me and he even kissed me on the lips. I had only been kissing them on their forehead or cheek, but he wanted a kiss on the lips. So, we did and then we had to do eskimo kisses where you rub your noses together! I have to admit. I loved every moment of it and it brought back memories of me giving my mom eskimo kisses when I was young. Now, I’m gonna be a mom that can give her kids eskimo kisses!
We again told the boys that we didn’t know what time we would see them tomorrow, but that we would see them. Tolic then grabbed Lance’s hand and acted like he was walking to the door and said, “Good-bye Orphanage!” He is so ready to get out of there it isn’t even funny. Due to his excitement, he was more like the outgoing Tolic that we met the first day at the hospital. He is ready! We are too!
We had to go to the large grocery store tonight to buy stuff for the kids to have a sweets table tomorrow. A sweets table is a celebration that is exactly what it sounds like. You gather around a table and eat sweets! As if we haven’t eaten enough junk on this trip! He has been so excited about having a sweets table before they leave. Also, we needed to buy the two packages of paper that the judge requested we bring them so that they can print our court decree. Who cares. If $10 worth of paper will get us our court decree so we can get birth certificates and pick up or babies, you got it!
Lance finally wrapped up all his work just a little bit ago. It is now 11:00PM and he is finished! Since his FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act) time off goes into effect when we get the boys, he had to have all his projects wrapped up and forwarded to the person that will be taking them over while we are gone. Yeah, now he doesn’t have to work anymore of our trip. And, with my computer being finicky, I don’t have to wait for him to finish work before I can check my email.
I think I might have the blog back up and working. Well, a work around. There are now two parts to the blog. If that doesn’t work, then we will be posting to our blogspot blog that we haven’t used until today. Hopefully, we can keep you updated and I can continue to document this whole story for the boys.
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