Monday, December 24, 2007

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Saint Nicholas Day!

As Eastern Orthodox Christians, we celebrate feast days for particular Saints. So Yesterday we celebrated the Feast of Saint Nicholas December (6/19). Yes, yours truly--the real Saint Nicholas. It is traditional for the children to receive Coins (chocolates) and other treats in their shoes on this day. Our family also opens stockings on this day...so here is a picture of Arseny's shoes filled with his "treats" and one of Matthew with Arseny opening his stocking. On the wall along with his icon, we made a Saint Nicholas calendar (we put on a cotton ball for every day starting on the 1st of December until he had a full beard--December 19) this was fun! Read the life of the historical Saint Nicholas here.



Saturday, December 15, 2007

"Do you like my hat?"











"I do. What a hat! I like it! I like that party hat!"

Hop on Pop

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

God Grant You Many Years!

On this last Sunday December 9th we had Kyra baptised at Church. She was baptised Kyranna (and is also named after) her Patron Saint--Saint Kyranna of Thessaloniki. A baptism is always a beautiful event so here are some pictures to Share! May God Grant her Many Years!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow...






So it snowed here recently in Walla Walla and we've had some good fun with a sled recently. It's hard on moms when it's cold outside because little ones get cooped up in the house and can't get outdoors as easily. So the times we do get outside take some prep work. This includes a snowsuit, hat, boots, and gloves. The only problem is... Arseny doesn't want to wear ANY of these items. For some reason he's terrified of his snowsuit and hates his gloves and boots. The only thing he will wear is his hat which he successfully puts on backwards everytime. So When we were going outside for a mommy and Arseny snowday, I calmly explained that if he wanted to go out he had to wear all items. The contemplation on his face was priceless! So began the tantrum and I'm sure you can envision a mom calmly stuffing her toddler into a snowsuit with all limbs flailing about.

We finally got outside and Arseny found that it wasn't so bad but the gloves were still and issue. He didn't like the way they felt when he rode his bike. He'd go to put his hands on the handlebars and inches before he touched them he'd scream and shake his hands because he wanted those darn things off. Everytime I turned around he was trying to get them off and a couple of times he succeeded but we'd go inside if he did take them off, have a "talk" and then he'd come back out with them on and we'd start all over again. It was exhuasting...and this was supposed to be a fun time with mommy to make a snowman and ride the sled. It turned out Mommy made the snowman and Arseny rode his bike on the sidewalk but was mad because the snow made it so the bike wouldn't go. OHHHH as you can guess a nap shortly followed this event. So here are our pictures of our snow day...keep an eye out in the last one...you'll see you know who finally getting those nasty gloves off!

Everyday Fun!






Wow, time flies when you're having fun! Well--a month has gone by so quickly and Kyra is already 6weeks old. We're starting to get into a routine and I think Arseny realizes that she's here to stay...yep I think we'll keep her. She is an absolutely wonderful baby. She seems to be content 90% of the time which is a blessing from up above. God must have known I needed an easy one considering Arseny cried for the first 6-8 months. So we've been keeping up with the everyday things. We've been trying to take some pics to send to Grandma and Grandpa to show what everyday life was like so here are a few...

Kyra being extremely content...big surprise
Arseny loving his Sister
Arseny brushing his teeth (at all times of day)
Arseny eating (wearing) Spagetti
...and two little munchkins loving a ride in our double stroller (this was before it snowed) so stay tuned for snow pictures.