It's a Small World

Hey! I know you!

It was a mini-Khmelnytskyi reunion last weekend, when we hooked up with Gregory and his brother Eric at the Duffy School playground. Gregory was adopted from Ukraine around the same time as Matthew and Thomas. In fact, our paths just about crossed as their family arrived in Khmelnytskyi as we were leaving. In fact, Gregory was living in the same orphanage as they were, in Matthew's same group. They had gone through the same adoption agency we used and actually live practically in our neighborhood. All the boys enjoyed their playdate, but no Ukrainian was spoken among them.

We've actually gotten acquainted with 4 or 5 different families from various parts of the U.S. who have adopted children from the same orphanage either before or after we did. Through this blog and email, we've been able to share stories and experiences with some great people. We've been able to see pictures of Matthew and Thomas from before we knew them. We've also seen some of our pictures show up on other families' blogs (no, not the ones with the boots and fur coats!).

The boys are thoroughly enjoying their Summer. Both go to Joni's Preschool and Childcare the three days a week Mama goes to work. This week, they started swimming lessons at a nearby indoor pool. Thomas clearly has no fear of the water and was not satisfied to sit on the edge of the pool kicking his feet. After the first time he jumped in, Mama spent the rest of the lesson hovering next to the pool in street clothes, in case any additional life-saving assistance was needed. Matthew did great and is very much looking forward to next week's lesson. We will probably be exploring other options for Thomas ...

Fly Boy

Matthew gives the all clear for take-off, co-piloting this helicopter.
He was among the youngest visitors to last weekend's air show, but kept up with the grown-ups just fine.

Happy Birthday, America!

Thomas and Aunt Patty check out the camels at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, RI. It was a fun road trip!
Matthew and Thomas, with cousins Moira, Gregory, Kaitlin and Meghan, visit with a lady from the zoo and a baby wallabee.
After lots of bouncing at Jump Zone, the boys enjoyed ice cream at neighbor Kelly Guberman's 4th birthday party.

From Matthew and Thomas, two proud Americans, a very HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Summer's Coming!

Sorry that the posts have been slow in coming. In addition to not having a lot of leisure time anymore, there have been some technical difficulties making it hard to post pictures.
Matthew and Thomas are doing great. They both love school and have made many friends. Having been home just over 3 months, it's amazing all they have learned. They figured out pretty early on that it was useless trying to communicate with Mama and Papa in Ukrainian, so they have been picking up English very quickly. In fact, they even speak English to each other. Since Thomas is so young and his language skills were not as fully developed, he seems to really be taking off with his English. We can't help but be taken aback when he says things like "Look at that, over there" or "You found it!". When we were leaving a party a couple of weekends ago, Matthew said to one of the other guests, "Nice to meet you."

The boys thoroughly enjoyed the Memorial Day holiday and Matthew keeps talking about how he will be marching in a parade one day soon and will be sure to throw lots of candy our way. Other big news in our house is that Mama returned to work this week, part-time. After 16 weeks of family leave, it felt good to get back to a bit of my former life. It's great seeing all my friends and colleagues at Aetna again, too.

Cinco de Mayo

Matthew and Thomas enjoying a little Mexican fiesta. You should have heard the two Ukrainians correcting each other on the proper way to pronounce "quesadilla".

Many of our friends have inquired about how the four-legged members of the family have adjusted to life with the two boys. Do they look terribly stressed out? Other than an occasional cameo appearance, the cats prefer to keep some distance from Matthew and Thomas.

Matthew hasn't let numerous spills discourage him from riding, but he would probably benefit from more protective gear. If only we could find some leathers in a size 5T.

Fun at the Fire Department

Happy May Day everyone...workers of the world unite!!! It's an eastern Europe (and some colleges) thing. A few weeks back, the boys took a field trip to the Middletown Fire Dept. There, they were greeted by Firefighter Steven Beeler and given a tour and souvenirs. Thomas fell from a truck and later hit his head on a pipe fitting. Matthew just wanted to take the trucks. Both boys want to be firefighters and love to see fire trucks.


Firefighter Steve and the boys in front of their truck.

Matthew and thomas attempting to commandeer the tower truck.

Thomas wishes this rig had adjustable pedals.

The boys and firefighter Steve. Yes ladies, firefighter Steve is available!

THAT'S ALL FOLKS...for now

Swing Time

If you've been in our neighborhood lately, you've noticed a new structure has been erected. Just in time for Spring vacation, we have a beautiful new swing set in the backyard. No, it's not the crew from Extreme Home Makeovers. Our family pitched in to get the project wrapped up in a weekend.

Kaitlin and Matthew break for ice cream during construction.

Finished! Just in time for cousin Gina's arrival on Sunday afternoon. She spent a few days of her Spring vacation with us and was a great help with the boys.

Matthew likes a good push, so he can get some altitude.

Hope everyone is enjoying this great weather. Come back soon, Gina. We miss you!