I think what we were most thankful for yesterday is that America has a holiday called Thanksgiving! We will look forward to next year's celebration more than ever. :) Our day was happy and relaxing, but it definitely was missing all the Pilgrim fun! We (sort of) made pancakes for breakfast. The first few didn't turn out well at all but the frying pan eventually got in the groove and turned out some yummy pancakes. We have finally found something that ALL 9 of us like!!!!! I miss my griddle, tho. And real maple syrup. And my measuring cups. And my measuring spoons. After breakfast we all snuggled up in the living room and watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving (I brought the dvd). All the new kids got tickled at Snoopy's antics and the original 6 enjoyed it like we usually do, plus the fun of watching them! I made a big pot of chicken and dumplings for lunch. They turned out surprising yummy! (I tried to buy sour cream for my sour cream dumplings, but I don't know what it was. Maybe heavy cream in a sour cream container.) All 9 of us like this, too! Will wonders never cease!! I put lots of carrots and spinach in it and it was a good meal for a really cold day. After dinner we snuggled up in the living room again and watched "On Moonlight Bay", a Doris Day/Gordon McRae film that we all LOVE and watch together every fall. I saved it and "By the Light of the Silvery Moon" (the sequel) for Thanksgiving this year, knowing we would need a treat. All the funny parts were especially funny this year and we had so much fun watching them together. The Polskis seemed to enjoy them, too.
We are truly in "killing time till we get home" mode. We are counting down the days and SO ready to be home. Even the new ones are asking, "How long till Alabama?". Our paper chain doesn't seem to grow shorter fast enough! I've told you that our new kids eat a lot. Our originals are hungry a lot, too. I don't know exactly what it is, we go to the store almost every day, we eat meals, snack a lot, but everyone is always hungry. Maybe the cold makes you need more calories. Craig and I have both lost weight. Our belts are down to the last notch! For Craig, I'm not surprised. He's still running every day. But I have lost 5 lbs. ( I weighed at the pediatrician's office the other day :) ) I guess it's from chasing kids all day and not thinking about snacking. No complaints from me! We don't eat a whole lot of carbs, either. I had heard that the bread here was amazing, but we miss our USA bread.
Today we packed everyone up and headed into Warsaw. We went to a huge, 3 story mall. First we ate (because of course everyone was starving after a 30 min. drive) and then visited the bathroom (because of course everyone had to go) and then Craig took the girls and Peter to see the movie "Frozen" (in Polish), Tucker and Drew Preston went to see "Catching Fire" (in English!!!) and Sully, Sarah Jane and I went shopping (in Polish and English!). I found an amazing toy store and got some fun things to keep them occupied on the plane ride home. I get some funny looks when Sarah Jane calls me Mommy, 'cause you know she looks JUST like me. :)
Right now we are at Kolorado again, the big indoor play area. It has free wi fi, so Tucker and Drew Preston brought their computer and are happily playing a game. Sully is attached to his ipod, getting as much info on the Auburn game as he can and Craig is on his phone working on a trip to Berlin. The rest are tearing around in the tunnels, slides, ramps and ball pit. We can't take the new kids across the border, of course, so Craig is going to take the older boys on a quick trip to see Berlin. We're only 5 hours away, too close to miss such a neat opportunity.
I think I'm going to get to see the Christmas Market in Krakow after all. When we got back to our house the other day I looked up the dates of the Warsaw Old Town Christmas Market and found that it has been cancelled due to the construction in Old Town! Arrg! What a disappointment. I would be so sad to be this close to European Christmas Markets and not get to go to one! SO, Craig and I think that I will take a train down to Krakow for a day and hang out. It's only a 3 hour train ride. I'm going to take Tucker and Ellie with me. So excited!!! It's really easy to travel here. So many people speak English and the train goes within walking distance of the market.
The other nite we all sat down to dinner and I said, "Who's missing?" Craig laughed at me 'cause now we have so many kids I know someone is missing but it takes me a minute to figure out which one!
I have to say once again how much the Lord has blessed us with this bonding time. Looking back to the beginning, I am AMAZED at how far we have all come. We understand each other, and get annoyed with each other, and learn from each other and laugh a LOT! We grin at their funny mistakes and their attempts to get us to understand. We hug them and scold them and tickle and wrestle. It's incredibly different from what I thought it would be, but I can see it is all that it should be! I think the "honeymoon" stage of adopting children who are older, who already have language and memories and an idea of the way things should be, is over the minute you get them. Not in a bad way at all, just that you go from the joy of anticipating those first hugs to the reality of being a family and taking them just as they are and getting to know them. You can't really guess at all what it's going to be like. God has, in His gentle, loving, creative, overwhelming way, paved the "reality road" for us! There is no way it could be like this without His orchestration. He gets all the praise and glory! Thank you all so much for praying for our family. It has covered us with His peace.
Craig and Sarah Jane have a new game. It takes place when he is in the shower. The light switch for the bathroom is on the outside of the room (Polish thing- in hotels, too). When he's in the shower she shouts at the door, "Love you, Daddy!" then she turns out the light and runs. heehee Craig is getting good at taking showers in the dark.
By the way, Sarah Jane is being called Sarah Jane by her Polish siblings. We're so excited because they seemed sad at first that we were changing it. But they seem to love it now! And so does she!
If you have emailed me and I haven't answered, it may be that I'm not getting them. My mom says she's sent several but I haven't gotten them. (I did get your sweet Thanksgiving message, Marti! Thank you so much!) So don't get offended if I don't answer! But keep trying! Messages from home help SO much. Facebook messages work, too.
Request! Drew Preston's 13th birthday is Dec. 1, Sunday. If you get a chance and want to send him a birthday message, send it in an email to me or facebook message it to me. He would love it! Thanks! I'll save them all and let him read them on his birthday.
Love y'all! Miss you! Lots more than you know! ~R
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