trick or treat or tailgate

Hello everyone! Happy Halloween, and Happy Fall! We had much fun this Halloween as vampire and bat (the above pic doesn't do justice to the exquisitely crafted bat costume Mummy did for Carson). Our home computer is on the fritz, so we don't get to share pics from Conner's b-day just yet. We promise those soon!



If you follow KU football, you know that there wasn't as much to cheer for in October as there should have been. Surely better results for November! Conner and Carson don't claim to be big football fans, but they are very big tailgating fans! Playing with the inflatable Jayhawks, eating awesome food and partying with really nice people. Who could ask for more?



We live just a few blocks from the football stadium, so it is common to see us walking to the game and giving people a "Rock Chalk Jayhawk!" as we pass by. These pics were taken by some friends in the IT department of the university.



We totally bogarted this picture from the Parrack's blog. It was taken during Ben's b-day at Monkey Business. We thought it was too good not to share twice.

In the last entry, we mentioned the bug that the whole family has been sharing. It has subsided a bit, but isn't gone entirely. We know many of you are struggling with the same, and hope that it doesn't hit you too hard. Otherwise, school continues to improve for Conner and go smoothly for Carson. The big holiday season awaits!!

The paperboys

So, we're totally blowing our tradition of one entry per month. But it is for a good cause. It was a beautiful day yesterday, and we needed to rake leaves. The boys are great at helping, and they know that the reward for helping is getting to dive into the leaves when they are done.

This activity attracted the attention of our local newspaper. Yes, the boys were in the paper...again. Here's the link. Truth be told, we live three blocks from the paper's hq, and the boys are always outside. So, the photog is told to go out and get outside pictures, drives three blocks to our neighborhood, and sees the CNM boys shoveling snow, riding bikes, raking leaves, etc.

The only other news of note is that we have some very sick little dudes. You can't tell it by the picture, and they certainly haven't slowed down much. But when we finally took them to the doctor last week, Conner was diagnosed with double ear infections, tonsilitis, and pink eye! Hopefully we are getting past it, and can put our attentions towards fun fall activities again.

Baby picture day

Hi there! How about some early pics of the boys? Last week was bring a baby picture to school week in Conner's class, so we pulled together some pics we were given from the orphanage. Thought me might share them on the blog.



One of the first things we were told to expect while in Kras was that for the most part Russians think Americans smile too much. It is a bit evident from all the boys' baby pictures. It was explained to us that if you smiled at someone you didn't know, they thought you were laughing at them for some reason. Just wanted to provide some perspective as to why there are so few smiles in the early pics.



Already looking over his shoulder! The funny story about Carson is that during several of our first meetings with him, he was extremely introverted. Couldn't get him to play, couldn't get him to speak. Not so much the case anymore...in fact he has been on a tear recently. He lost his bike privileges, which is a big deal since he got a big boy bike last month for his b-day...



Hard to believe he was ever this small! When they came to us, both boys were around the third percentile in height and weight. They are now in the thirtieth, if not the fiftieth. We'll leave you with a fun pic of the two of them in their farmer overalls.

A month of 2 five year-olds

Happy birthday, Carson! Cool Disney puzzles, a remote control car, and a big boy bike were among the "pirate booty." A birthday balloon bouquet came from Jilly and Ronan, and it all made for a very happy 5 year-old.



This is Conner on kindergarten picture day. We are on our fifth week of school, and it has been quite a transition. The boys' pre-k school is 9:00 to 11:30 MWF, and Conner's kindergarten is 8:00 to 3:00 every day. From seven hours a week to seven hours a day, whew! He has struggled to keep his control and remain on task. He has to write his name in the book (which means getting in trouble) more days than not. We're working with the teacher, and have been seeing improvement. Sure hope it continues!



Yeah, Mummy whipped up a fabulous b-day cake creation. Carson is our little food connoisseur. (had to look that one up) Last year, he wanted chocolate everything. This year it was berry everything. Strawberry cake with blueberries, blackberries and strawberries on top. He'll be on top chef before we know it!



The new bike is a big hit. 16 inch wheel Spiderman bike. Poor Conner has to wait till his b-day before getting his big boy Transformers bike (shhhh don't tell him). We'll wait till the next entry to do a full-blown pic with both boys and both bikes. Conner is being a trooper now on his 12 inch wheel Thomas the Train bike, and Carson has been kind enough to let him try the Spiderman bike a couple times.



Oooh, spooky! A precursor to the next entry, when we'll tell you how Conner's b-day went, how Halloween went, and how the first half of the school year went. Have a wonderful early fall!

Can it really have been three years ago?!

Yep. three years ago today, we completed 30 straight hours of travel to bring our little boys home. It doesn't seem possible that it has been so long, but we did have a quiet celebration this week when we FedExed the last post-placement report to Russia.



We promised more Chicago pictures. Here is our little kindergartener showing off the waterworks fountain that he made himself. This was a fun, wet room of the Children's Museum. Raingear provided in case the water found its way out of the fountain area...



More Children's Museum stuff. Both boys still go nuts for dinosaurs, so you know that this display was a bit hit. If you look closely, you can see how poorly the raingear worked for Carson.



Two pizza chefs making their own culinary creations. Yes, that is spinach, peppers and tomatoes that our little veggie lovers piled on their own individual pie. The pizza kits came complete with aprons and fancy chef hats. You can just see the Cubs jerseys under the apron. The boys made it through 9 innings of a Cubs game with Daddy and Uncle Ronan. here are some pics of the game!









The last one was actually taken by Conner. This is a good representation of how much fun we had at the game. Peanuts in the shell--very good snack during a three hour baseball game! Well, we hope that your fall has started well. We'll update you on school ups and downs in the next entry, and start celebrating all our fall b-days!

First day of kindergarten!

Wahoo!! Here is Conner in front of his new school. We've gone from a pre-k class that only met 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Mon, Wed, Fri to all day kindergarten which is 8 to 3, Mon thru Fri. What a huge transition!



They have an all-school assembly to begin each day. Mummy, Daddy and Carson took him to his first day, and as you can see, he fit right in. He was too distracted to eat much of his lunch on the first day, and for whatever reason chose to dump sand on his head during recess. Otherwise, success!!



We had such an amazing trip to see Aunt Jilly and Uncle Ronan, and we've been so bad about posting the pics. There are so many great ones, that we will have to split them into two entries.



The first two are of the family in the Navy Pier ferris wheel. The weather was fantastic the whole time, and we did just about everything a tourist fam can do during a four day whirlwind. Below is a group of photos we'll entitle: "Back to the camera"

Back to the camera at the Shedd Aquarium
Loved the dolphins and Beluga Whales!

Back to the camera at Wrigley Field
The Cubs won, and regained first place in the division.

Back to the camera at the Kids Museum
An awesome hands-on experience.

Front to the camera at the Lego Store
Maybe Carson had to go to the restroom...

We had such a great time. Our first whole family adventure. We rode planes, buses, cars, subways, trolleys, rickshaws, and barely missed jumping on one of the Budweiser Clydesdales. A huge hug and thank you to the O'Donavans for an unforgetable adventure. The next entry will include the second round of pics!

It's Gotcha Day!

Wow, three years ago today. Hard to believe, until we look at pictures in the August '06 entries. Our little babies have become little men! Conner begins kindergarten in less than a week, and he seems more ready than his Mummy and Daddy. We owe you a chock-full of pictures entry about our visit with Jilly and Ronan. It will come in a few days.



Here is evidence of a very happy garden. This year, the boys helped plant the seeds for the beans and the cucumbers. They love helping Mummy and Daddy pick the fruits of our labor, except that the mosquitos are always party to the event. We did take a break from gardening to have a summer Kras Connection with the Parrack family. Here's a pic from their blog.



Among the pictures we hope to post in a few days are the ones documenting our amazing trip to Wrigley Field. It was so great that the boys have picked up a love for the game. Interesting to see them swinging lefty, since they both write with their wright. Anyway, just a quick hello to all and a celebratory post on the third anniversary of a staunch Russian judge saying, "Congratulations, you are parents. One looks like Mama, one looks like Papa."