We Are All a Puddle of Mush

I say that 'cause our kids couldn't be any happier, sweeter or cuter.  Oh my goodness.  This morning we drove for an hour to the kids' orphanage.  It is in a small village with no hotels, that's why we stayed in Wroclaw.
We met with the orphanage director and the children's caregivers who gave us some information on the kids and asked us some "get to know you questions". First of all, they told us that when the kids were told we were coming they immediately started counting down the days.  :)  They were very excited and wanted to be adopted.  YAY!  What an answer to prayer!  Thank you ALL so much for praying for our children's hearts, it is apparent that God has totally prepared them for this!  The caregivers also told us that there have been 10 (TEN!) adoptions from their orphanage in the past month (it is a small facility, they only have 32 kids). The other 10 got our kids wondering, "when is it our turn?" so they were thrilled when they found out we were coming.  Then it was time to meet them.  Someone brought them in and here came this precious little group of 3, GRINNING ear to ear.  They were so happy!  Even little Kinga came and gave me a hug.  She seemed a little more shy than Karolina and Peter and kept retreating behind Karolina.  Until I brought out the York peppermint patties and her stuffed giraffe.  Then she was my best friend.  Word to the Wise Adoptive Parents, candy works!!!!!  S, T, D and E joined in the hugging and everyone grinned at everyone else. :)
They moved us to a more private room that the kids were obviously familiar with.  It had lots of toys and books and a sofa and room to play.  Very soon, Kinga (pronounced  KEENYA) was zooming toy trucks all over and Peter (pronounced PEETA) started a game of tag that instantly made our biological 4 and adoptive 3 become a family of 7.  You'd hardly know they speak a different language.  All the laughing, running, squealing, talking, playing, reading, picture taking, etc.  They definitely bonded!!  AND, all 3 immediately started calling us mama and tata/daddy.  My heart is just so full.  They are obviously going to love 2 big brothers who pick them up and throw them around.  And another big brother who got to work building a train track with Peter.  And a sister who they already call Shora, a slang word for sister.  In fact, they haven't got the names down yet so they just say, "Brother!" or "Sister!"  All of this is ALSO a huge answer to prayer!  God has perfectly paved the way for these kiddos to be in our family!!!!
We walked to a restaurant with one of the orphanage caretakers for lunch and more hilarity ensued.  Kinga ate half a pizza and a big bowl of ice cream.  The other kids sat at their own table and ate and laughed.  Tucker fell asleep on the sofa at the restaurant, jet lag has been pretty brutal, but got woken up by his new siblings several times.  :)  All the kids held hand to and from the restaurant. They REALLY like each other! 
The kids are tinier than I thought they would be.  Not unhealthy, just little!  The dimples of Karolina and Peter are delightful!  Kinga's hair is so blond!  They are so much cuter than their pictures show. 
When we left the orphanage they seemed to understand that we are coming back tomorrow for them.  They even gave us some of their toys to "hold" until we come back.  We got lots of hugs and kisses from each of them.   When we walked out the door they were all at their window waving to us and doing the sign for I Love You (we taught it to them).  Happy, happy, day. 
All of us, except for Craig, fell asleep on the way back to the hotel.  Craig is out with Sasha now buying a car seat, a booster seat and a stroller.
Oh!  Another big piece of news.  Sasha and Alex found us a house in Warsaw!  Plenty of room, a yard and .6 miles from the town shopping area!  Praise God!  We're so glad.  When we got here Saturday they still had not found us a place and a house seemed not probable.  I prayed that if it would be better for our family in a house that God would make it easy to find one and He did!  He is SO good to us.
Keep praying sweet friends!  We're praying for you, too!

 first glance!

 hugs from Kinga

 a little shy!

 trying out the Clement Family shirts

 stuffed giraffes and York peppermint patties save the day

 Ellie and her new sister

 Sullivan and Peter....Peter is the king of silly faces.  His normal smile is SO cute, but it's hard to capture one on camera!

 My rotten teenagers gave their ipod touches to Karolina and Peter.  They are hooked.  :)  That is Sasha sitting beside Karolina, our wonderful Lifeline friend/translator/driver/assistant/jokester/ etc.  He's awesome.

 Kinga cutie.

 Ellie and one more brother. :)

 Sullivan with Peter and Karolina.

 Daddy and Kinga looking at our family picture book.

 See what I mean about the faces?!  Peter spent a good amount of time jumping on Sullivan.

 Ellie reading to Kinga.

 Our 7 kids!!!

 Our family of 9!!

 18 feet and counting!!

 Kinga on her bed.  Karolina's is to the left of hers.

 Peter showing off his bed.  All the little boys had matching comforters.  Poor Peter.  He's going from Winnie the Pooh on the wall to Captain America.  Hope it doesn't freak him out!

 Kinga all bundled up, ready to go to lunch.

 These pretty windows are everywhere.

 Fun at the restaurant.  I got trout.  It had a face.  It was "smiling" at me.  I cut it off and put it on Craig's plate.  Sasha laughed at me.

 She ate half of this pizza!!

 Snooginess in the extreme.

 Daddy and Karolina.

 The orphanage door.

 The orphanage.

 Waving goodbye.  You can see Peter's hand in the "I love you" sign.  :)