Krasnoyarsk adventure

Our first Pinewood Derby!

2012-01-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hey, two entries in one month! The CNMs just experienced their first Pinewood Derby and we had a great time. Look at the stylin rods they are showing off.

We weighed in at 8 a.m. and had time to goof around for a while. Here is Conner in the Derby cutout. We learned at weigh in that we were much lighter than we needed to be. That proved to be our downfall during the actual races...

Posing in front of the race track. Neither guy won a single race, but by golly they just talked about how we need to make the cars faster next year! Daddy thought quick and proposed that we needed the cars to go more slowly so people could see how cool they were.

So we had a lot of fun for our first time. The boys helped design the cars, did lots of sanding, amost all the painting (thanks for the flames, Mummy) and made some fab cars.

The big story about early 2012 is the weather. Gorgeous! Here we are doing some coatless tree climbing. So awesome to have comfortable outdoor activity this early in the year. All three CNMs like tree climbing. There must be a fair amount of monkey in their blood...

2011 Christmas and New Years

2012-01-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and family!! It has taken quite a while to get our holiday pics up, but here they are. We loved spending Christmas in the newly expanded house and loved hosting the traditional Kras Connection NYE party for the first time!

Here are the CNMs with cousin Alex. She was giving her best angry monster look while the boys offered their angelic monkey look. Or was it sneaky monkey... We had a wonderful time with the Marsh and Bailey families over the holidays.

Opening presents in a blur! We got to put up the big tree for the first time in six years, because the living room is no longer our primary hang out spot! Mummy is an expert at decorating the big tree and it made Christmas even more special.

So many awesome gifts that the boys loved. One of the hits was from cousin Tina. Dinosaur hoodies with big toothy grins on the sleeves!

Conner's fav was the microscope kit including all kinds of cool scientific oddities to discover. Carson's fav was his set of official stacking cups. He can already do the contest cycle in 30 seconds. Faster than Daddy!

Yep, KU basketball. Carson has a higher tolerance for the noise and excitement, plus he is infinitely food-focused, so he went with Daddy to a couple holiday games with one eye always on the consession stand.

The Kras Connection!! Four boys within a year of each other who all came to the heartland of the US from the Heartland of Russia. The Parracks have been the wonderful host of our NYE party for four years, and we finally have enough room to reciprocate.

The celebration was complete with a huge yummy dinner, fancy hat decorating, sparklers in the back yard, and a new years toast. Here are more awesome pics of the evening from the Parrack's blog.

It was so fun asking the boys to come up with their own toasts. We had requests for everything from world peace to a yummy breakfast. We toasted with the fancy wine and champagne glasses we inherited from the boys' great grandmother. Sparkling grape juice of course!

This is what many of us look like after a big new years celebration... the boys had a blast, the Parracks stayed the night and we had a big 2012 breakfast to start the year off right. We hope you had a wonderful holiday season and look forward to a great 2012.

Basketballs and goofballs

2011-12-12T13:32:00.001-08:00

Happy early holidays, everyone! the Marsh fam is jazzed about Christmas 2011. The boys are checking out Daddy's KU tree on an evening that Santa visited campus. The special glasses Carson is wearing make every light magically glow with a "happy holidays" message.

Kitty in a box! We have such wonderful neighbors in Old West Lawrence. They helped us immensely during the house project. The kitty in the box is Roscoe, one of two cats who live with Ernie and Tricia across the street. The cats and the boys are very fond of each other.

Conner in a box! Goofing off at Riley's house. We spent quite a bit of time at Riley's house this summer when we had no kitchen. We promise this is not how we keep the boys skinny. It was a bit of an effort getting Conner back out of this box...

This, on the other hand, is one of the ways the boys stay fit. Here is Carson celebrating the completion of his first marathon!! The boys' school sponsors a program that has the kids run around a half-mile track a couple times after school. Once they've done it 52 times, we celebrate!

Not too long after Carson finished, Conner did as well. It was a bit colder the day we celebrated with Conner! Mummy was the faithful facilitator of the program's evaluation system. The kids got a check mark on their hand from Mummy every time they circled the course. We figure that is no fewer than 4,000 marks!

The Angry Chickens!! Both boys are finishing up basketball season. Daddy was assistant coach for both teams. We haven't completely mastered the triangle offense or the 2-3 zone defense yet, but it has been a lot of fun.

And here are some goofballs posing for their team pic. With basketball and cub scouts, we were running about almost every evening. It compromised our routine of getting the boys to bed at 7 p.m., but really how much longer can that last? (as long as we can get away with it, for sure!)

More goofballs! Sorry we didn't offer any updated pics of the house. That will surely come when we post about Christmas. And the NYE Kras Connection will be at our house this year! Happy Holidays everyone.

Thanksgiving in the new house!

2011-11-28T12:51:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays everyone! The Marsh fam had lots to be thankful for this year. Our home addition project is pretty much buttoned up, and just in time to host 14 for Thanksgiving dinner!

Yes, there was a kids table. And here are the CNMs posing with their cousins Kyleigh and Alex. What kind of turkey is that on the table, you may ask? A Baskin Robbins one!

Here is your first look at the new kitchen/dining room. We are so excited to be moved in to the space! Some cabinet work remains, and lots of painting which we chose to do ourselves to save some cash. But everything is nice and open and we are loving it!

Looks like some folks were ready for this shot and others weren't! But it's a good look at the bountiful feast. Some of the goodness was brought by members of the family, lots was prepared by awesome Chef Mummy in her lovely new kitchen!

In fact, we didn't even wait till the cabinets were in...

Just as the construction was finishing up, Mummy and Daddy left both boys for the first time ever to fly to Gamilee's house in D.C. We are prepping to sell her beautiful place and brought many family heirlooms back to the newly finished addition. Here is Carson welcoming us home!

Life goes on in and around the addition project. The boys are doing well in school, still running with their Marathon Club, playing basketball and doing scouts. Nothing like a handsome guy in uniform, right?

Check out the physiques of these dudes as they do sit-ups! Strong little fellas.

Fall 2011 has been packed full of excitement. We look forward to the Christmas holiday in a newly expanded house. We owe you pics of the upstairs, where we've all gotten new bedrooms and a big new playroom. We'll leave you with another pic of downstairs where the boys are being artistic.

Conner's b-day and much, much more

2011-11-08T11:25:00.001-08:00

Eight years old??? No way! These boys simply have to stop growing up so fast. We had a great party for our little second grader. Those are blueberries in case you're wondering...

He got a zhu zhu pet, Transformers stuff, Legos kits, and even a pottery wheel. Cleaned house as usual and had a great time. Looks like a grown up kid in the pic, don't you think?

Nothing like an oversized sombrero to make a kid look small again. Here we are at the boys' favorite restaurant El Mezcal enjoying his birthday dinner.

Mummy and Carson grinning for the camera. Have we mentioned yet that Carson finally lost his first teeth? Took a while, but he now can drink from a straw with his mouth closed tight. Even his baby teeth are pretty tightly squeezed in there, so we may need to start a braces savings account!

First Halloween with costumes that have fake muscles! What a hit they were. Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. Good looking little dudes.

The boys made huge points with Daddy when they came home after trick or treating, emptied their bags and gave him every piece of chocolate candy. Awesome! They said, "Here Daddy, we know the ones in the square orange wrappers are your favorite."

The summer weather wasn't very conducive to getting out on the Kaw River bikes trails this year, but we finally got there with our friends Ernie and Trisha (and photographer Mike). That is a pretty goofy looking bike helmut you have on there, Daddy.

It has been amazing to watch the boys improve each year on the trails. They get stronger and more brave with the big hills. This year, we did the entire 8+ mile track and they were ready for more!

Well, we owe you pics of the fun Parrack bonfire and the boys' scouting and sports activities this fall. We of course owe you an update on the house too, since we are only a week or two away from done. Easily the busiest time of the year, so stay tuned!

Almost there!

2011-10-06T12:30:00.001-07:00

Hiya! We've been promising update pics on the home project, so here they are. We think there's probably three or four weeks left till we're finished. So far, we're surviving the process and really excited to have some new space.

Here is Carson showing off said new space. You're looking from the living room, through the kitchen and all the way to the corner of the dining room. The original house would not be considered an "open" floor plan. So it will be fantastic to have this kind of elbow room!

Yes, we love the look of the natural cedar. But we've seen this beautiful stuff turn grey pretty quickly so we plan on painting it white to match the rest of the house. Right now it looks like a cedar sandwich between the original house and garage...

Marathon Club!! The boys have been running like crazy twice a week after school. Carson is about to get his winged shoe charm for being halfway to 26 miles. Conner is right on his heals.

Here they are with neighborhood buddy Max Bates. School is going very well. They come home most days with stickers and stamps, signifying a day without trouble in class. Our little guys are growing up and we wish they'd slow down a bit!! Stay tuned for pics from Conner's 8th and Halloween. Can you say Transformers?????

Birthdays and First days

2011-09-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

Happy seventh b-day to Carson! Two seven year olds in the house for the next month and a half. Above, Carson does his best impression of Conner in 2007.

Here he is happily opening his zhu-zhu pet. They are cut little suckers...

And here is his brother listening intently as Carson reads a birthday card. Does it look to you like these guys are growing up too fast?!

Fall is upon us and that means time for the first days of school. We had two returning students this year! Old timers...veterans...We are really stoked that Carson got the same 1st grade teacher that Conner had last year and Conner has a super 2nd grade teacher.

The obligatory picture in front of the cool old doors of Pinckney Elementary.

Here's a fun one of all the cousins on the Marsh side. Not sure why the CNMs were the only ones who didn't get the memo about looking towards the camera...

The house is coming along! As we write this entry, the shingles are being finished outside and the dry wall is being finished inside. So the next entry will have some better pics. This is a shot of the lovely Vannah showing off the dining room--kitchen--family room area.

Had to throw in some more Carson b-day pics. He took Mummy, Daddy and Conner to his favorite restaurant, El Mezcal. The birthday sombrero is so cool, we chose to close the entry with some shots of it. Enjoy the early fall, and watch for some Conner b-day pics and maybe even an announcement the house is done!!

Five years home

2011-08-26T20:22:00.001-07:00

August 26, 2006

Can it be possible? Five years to the day since this pic was taken. Two scared and tired little boys with their parents who felt the same....if not worse. Someone should have been pushing us in a stroller at that point. Five years later and the boys are off to first and second grade, doing great things and still tiring their parents out on occasion.

Ode to the Sandbar! The whole Marsh fam loves this little tropical oasis on Mass St. We went to their big street party last week and took some fun pics. if you're particularly observant, you'll notice a shark theme.

Definitely the boys' favorite: a two story inflatable shark slide! The little daredevils went up and down, up and down. The only drawback was a pretty impressive slide burn to the bottom of the boy pictured above. His expression kind of says, "that was fun, but I now have an embarrassing owey."

Now that we have said goodbye to one of the hottest Julys on record, the house project is moving along. It even looks like a house again! Above you see it tarped up to protect the exposed roof from an imminent rainstorm. Below you see it gift wrapped and adorned with all its windows.

We are crossing our fingers that we'll be done in six to eight weeks. It will be nice to have our kitchen back...our basement...dining room...family room...

Gotcha Day #5

2011-08-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

Can it possibly be five years since the stern female Russian judge said, "congratulations, you are parents"? It does seem like a very long time ago that we were in Siberia trying to get these boys (and ourselves) safely home to Kansas.
Here is the original Gotcha Day post.

Some of you particulary astute blog readers will identify this as Chicago 2008. It's here because this is the first August since then that we've not included Chicago vacation pics (wipe tear), and because we owe a thank you to Jill for the important date reminder...

As promised, here are lots of Harvey's Lake pics from last month. Can you imagine squeezing this many people around the table for dinner each night?! We got the first of five New York cousins married off last summer, so we might have to knock a wall out or something...

The three CNMs cherish the time spent at the house built by CNM Sr. Of all the cool toys at the lakefront, would you believe the little row boat is the boys' fav? Daddy really enjoyed taking them sailing for the first time ever this year. "Daddy, I don't like it when the boat tips!"

There is no shortage of silly with the cousins while we are all together. It is so fun watching the young KS cousins goofing with the 20 and 30 something NY cousins, remembering back when Daddy and his siblings were in that role and it was the NY cousins who were the youngsters.

A very, very important past time is jumping off the dock. Carson has decided he can do it without a life vest, but it is Conner who gets serious air...

...as witnessed by Daddy in this shot. First there's airborn Conner with Daddy underneath...

...then airborn Daddy with Conner underneath.

Fireworks on the driveway, another tradition. Have no fear, we're just dancing to a relatively harmless strobelight firework.

No way, a shuffleboard court? Yep. A before and after pic of the court that hasn't seen as much action recently as it did when the Marsh fam built it in 1956. One reason is the great deal of effort to clean it. Wanna see how it's done?

You have to buff it! Much fun back when we were all younger, and now the little KS cousins have discovered the joy. Above, Cousin Jeff pulls Alex and the CNMs around to shine up mid court. Below you see the creative ways the court gets its high sheen.

The finished product is fun for all ages. Here is a game whose participants represent four generations. If memory serves, Conner and Carson whomped Jeff and Spencer...

So, lots of lake pics and not much update on the house. The lake was wonderful this year, and we've focused a lot of our attention since then on the house project. It seems every day is either 100 degrees or raining, so progress is painfully slow. Next entry will document house progress and first day of school. B-bye summer...

Summer lovin

2011-07-21T07:37:00.001-07:00

Hey there blog fans! This time last year, we were blogging about our trips to Chicago, Minnesota and the Lake. this summer, the primary focus remains the big, new backside we're putting on the house...

This may be one of the very last pictures of the upstairs playroom in tact. It is now stripped down to the studs, waiting to be transformed to our new master bedroom and bath. What a great sign the boys made for Daddy!

And here is Daddy being silly with Cousin Spencer (or Take It Easy Spencer as the boys call him) This is a teaser for the August blog when we hope to compile some fun pictures from our July 4th trip to the Pennsylvania Lake House.

But before going to the Lake, the boys took part in our neighborhood's awesome 4th of July parade. They decorated their scooters and wore signs on their back wishing folks a happy 4th. Pretty cool hats, huh?

Back to the house!! It has been quite an experience. We've been at it since June, but Mother Nature has slowed progress with several storms and the current brutal two-week heat wave.

To cut down on expenses, we've agreed to do most of the demolition ourselves. Lots of hard work, but we have to admit it is fun getting to beat on stuff and destroy it. What you see above is what's left of our kitchen. Below is a chronological look at the back yard from our neighbor's balcony.

That's about where we are now. Lots of work yet to go, and its not fun work to do in 100 degree weather. But when it gets done this fall, we will be happy campers. The boys are giddy excited about the work, and help out at every opportunity.

So, stay cool and enjoy the rest of your summer. We promise to update on our lake trip and the house project in the next entry. Only just over three weeks till school starts up again!

The big hole!

2011-06-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Summer is in full swing, and we have a very big hole in our back yard. The boys are loving the heavy equipment. Does that suprise you?!

As much as they want to be in the midst of the construction activity, we are trying to find other things for them to do, so as not to be underfoot. Above, Conner is checking out a squirrel who is checking out him. "What chu doin in my tree?!"

Appropriate wetsuits for Memorial Day, yes? This is just before the CNMs headed for the water at Aunt Heather and Uncle Brad's lake. The water was a bit cold, but they loved the swimming, tubing and boat riding.

Daddy works in the student union building. The boys think they own it. Here they are dancing on the stage of the main auditorium. It is actually a dance they called the Donut Dance, in honor of national donut day. Wish you could have seen it live...

Ok, here is the back yard. So much excitement! Here they are digging the big hole. We moved our beloved fish pond further towards the back of the yard, and we're crossing our fingers that it and the boxwood garden both survive the project.

These guys could not be more excited about the whole thing. The nice man who dug the hole let them climb all over the bulldozer. And you know they are climbing all over the dirt mound. We just got the foundation walls poured, which was another hit with the boys. We'll have pics of that in the next entry.

Boys and Girls Club, KU Sports Camp, baseball practice... the boys are having a very busy summer. As are their chauffeurs--I mean parents. They are definitely sleeping well! This might be one of the last pictures of their small bedroom since they move in to our room once the addition is done.

Just days ago, the boys got another cousin. Here is Gamilee (great-grandmother) holding Faith Lewis. Welcome to the fam, Faith!

Bye bye back porch

2011-05-09T12:21:00.001-07:00

One of the boys' Mother's Day cards. Yes, the Coke cans are a primary component of the card. In fact, they are glued on to the paper! They know how much both parents love the stuff.

Want hours of productive entertainment for your overactive kiddos? Ask them to wash the car with a water cannon! Ok, they still liked the hose better, but Daddy kept hogging it.

Hard to see here, but Carson is sporting an impressive knot on BOTH sides of his head. On Mother's Day eve, we were attending an end-of-year party at their school and he ran full steam into a tetherball pole on the playground. ER room visit and everything! No stitches, and he is recovering well.

Ah, the screened in porch. Above, you see it no longer screened in. This was the first major project of our impending home addition. Mema and Grandpa came to offer assistance, and thanks in large part to them, it came down pretty smoothly. Here is a pictoral chronology:

The boys were eager to "help."

Down to one roof support, and we pause to strategize...

Man, that thing was a lot heavier than we expected!!

A true group effort to take the roof and floor apart.

Tah dah! Even found a fancy foundation stone hidden under the porch. Not to mention the bones of several animals that chose the porch as their final resting place.

And here is where the bones of the porch found their final resting place. We still have quite a bit to do before we can begin the addition, but we surely hope next month's blog will have a couple pics of the progress! Enjoy the last month of spring, and here's hoping Summer 2011 is superb!

Enjoying the springtime

2011-04-27T09:39:00.000-07:00

Look at Alladin and Jasmine! What a lovely pair. April has flown by as if by magic carpet. Hope yours has been wonderful. Ours has been filled with Easter activities and prep work for the addition project.

The hole in the back yard continues to grow. Not because we need it to be deep, but because the boys can not stop digging! Here they are with Max Bates looking for treasures.

And here is Carson with Max's baby brother Darby. He and Mummy watched Darby for an afternoon and Carson really did a great job with him. Maybe he enjoys playing older brother!

Yes, these two could be brother/sister. But Mia is a friend from school. She and Carson have had several play dates together. Here they are doing Carson's favorite activity: eating.

Conner finished his first year of scouts. His pack got to "cross over" from Tigers to Wolves. Fun little ceremony where they physically crossed over this little bridge and traded in their orange neckerchiefs for yellow ones.

A very serious Tiger scout. Younger siblings were invited to most of the events, so Carson is very well prepared to join his big brother in the fall.

Dying Easter eggs on the back porch! We bid a fond farewell to the porch this weekend. It's got to go to make room for the addition. Daddy took out a 50 ft tree yesterday with the boys' supervision and valuable assistance from our neighbor Terry. We will really miss this good old porch!

The boys cleaned up on Easter goodies. So much so that they got Easter buckets instead of baskets! We had a nice time celebrating with both sides of the family. Happy Easter to you too, and we hope you enjoy the awesome springtime!

Early spring happenings

2011-03-29T14:10:00.000-07:00

"How YOU doin?" says Conner. "Eeeaaalllaaalleee!" says Carson. Happy springtime, everyone. We are so happy the weather has finally warmed for good. It has been too long since we updated the blog, so here goes!

Mummy and Daddy celebrated their 10 year wedding anniversary this month. Holy cow! Half of that time without kiddos, half of it with. Time certainly flies. We celebrated with little fanfare, because we chose to give each other a big huge home addition for our anniversary presents.

St. Patrick's Day for the Marshes means helping with the Sandbar float, and then getting to ride on it as a reward. Above you see the two little construction workers having a good time and doing exactly what SuperDave tells them to...

The Sandbar outdoes itself every year, and we are crazy lucky to be a part of their float. This year it was an island theme, complete with working volcano and very cool music. The three CNMs wore grass skirts and shirts with big muscles painted on. Below is a pic of Conner sporting the outfit.

It was nice and warm for the parade this year, which made the island theme easier to pull off. Last year it was very cold, so thank goodness last year was midevil castle year instead of island volcano year!

Carson is doing pretty well in school, so we bumped him up a few grades and he graduated from Lawrence High this month. Traditional cap, camo gown...

The big news is the home addition project. We still haven't officially started it, but we've been working a lot on the back yard, getting it ready for the project to begin. The boys are good helpers, and we try to balance productivity with fun. Above, they show off their fort made from the old turtle habitat, bricks from our street and a 50+ year old wooden bin from the basement.

We have to take several big trees out of the back yard, demo the screened in back porch (wipe tear from eye) and move the fish pond. Above, Conner takes a break from digging the hole for the new fish pond. Not only do both boys enjoy the digging, but as you may have guessed Conner has been searching for treasures in the process.

We promise not to take such a long time before our next post. Hope life is great for you and your family/friends. Come over sometime this spring or summer to see the work on our house. We are about to travel some uncharted waters, living in a house that is getting worked on. But it is exciting, and we'll be sure to keep you posted!

White snow and white sand

2011-02-07T07:17:00.000-08:00

Our favorite weatherman promised a warmer than average winter, with less than average snowfall. We still love you, Gary, but you really let us down this time!

Not that the boys mind! We've made snowmen, snow forts, gone sledding down Mt. Oread, and already had more snowdays than the school had planned for. Last week we got 8 inches in one day, just three inches off the Lawrence record.

So...we thought it would be a good time to sneak away to our little island paradise in Florida! Gamilee owns a small condo in Marco Island, and we had never taken the boys. In fact, they had never seen the beach.

Yeah, it was a little chilly when we arrived, but the boys were still crazy excited to be there. Carson ran full speed toward the surf, Conner didn't make it one foot before focusing his gaze on the ground looking for shells.

But it was Carson who found the crown jewel of the trip. You will have to click on this one to get the full perspective. "Daddy! There's a starfish in this shell, and I think he's alive!" No, it was a baby octopus, and it was SOO cool.

It hovered around 70 degrees for most of the trip, but still warm enough to bask in the sun. The beach is pristine, and goes on forever. Not a big college destination, so it was just perfect. The condo had a heated pool which warmed us up after wading in the cool ocean.

Conner could have spent every waking moment scanning the beach for treasures. They communed with pelicans, dolphins, sea crabs and starfish, along with the aforementioned octupus.

Carson was a particular trooper, having to power through the trip with what we think was strep or the flu. He had a fever rash, ear aches from the flights, and a couple restless nights. It didn't dampen his trip though. Almost the only sign he gave us that he wasn't feeling well was he didn't eat much. You know something is wrong when that little man doesn't eat!

It was a nice escape from the cold midwest, and a forever memory for the boys' first ocean experience. Now we begin to count the days until spring and the beginning of our big home improvement project!

Holiday reflections

2011-01-13T08:38:00.001-08:00

Happy New year, everyone! Hope your holidays were fabulous. We certainly did not wish for sub-zero temperatures for the beginning of 2011, but can't complain about the holidays themselves. Here are some fun Christmas pics:

Christmas morning, tearing open the gifts and emptying the stockings. the boys got new bathrobes which they now wear every morning before getting ready for school.

Not pictured are the metal detectors the boys asked Santa for. Can't wait to find all kinds of treasures when the ground thaws! Carson got his other unique wish from Santa: ten rolls of tape! Seems Mummy has repremanded him once too often about using too much tape on his art projects. Now he happily has enough to last...a few months!

When asked what he will be when he grows up, Conner still answers, "a paleontologist!" So you can imagine how jazzed he was to get a big rock with stegasaurus bones hidden inside. It came complete with a hammer, pick, brush and safety goggles! He spent over an hour on the cold back porch excavating.

Puzzles remain a household fav. We stepped it up this year and got a few 750 piece puzzles. The boys love them, but they do require a bit of assistance from the parentals. Mummy looks forward to the day that the living room doesn't have to also be the staging area for so many of our activities...

We spent lots of time with both sides of the family. Grandma Marsh now lives about a 5 minute drive from the Baileys, so we basically have all the g-parents in the same place! Here we are at Grandma's new home with Gamilee.

No Christmas would be complete without Legos. Lots of cool new kits. Conner is sporting a few little creations and his new coveted shark-tooth neclace. He lost another of his own teeth last week with a second soon to follow. Carson is still unwilling to let any of his go...

An introduction to putt putt!! A good one it was. Daddy took the boys to his Rotary lunch (they ate as much at the buffet as most of the adults did!) then we hit the putt putt course that is inside the hotel that sponsors the Rotary meetings. it was just us, so the little wiffle balls were really flying. Pictured is Carson celebrating a hole in one, and Conner showing off his perfect form.

One day during the week after Christmas, the three CNMs spent the late afternoon at the indoor pool. The boys are swimming better and better, and are finally tall enough to go down the long water slide. They worked so hard, that after dinner they passed out on Daddy's lap on the couch! That has never come close to happening, so we shot a pic of it.

And then they wanted to duplicate the moment with Mummy. Cute pic, even though they are faking unconscousness in this one. So we put the holiday season to rest, look forward to an exciting 2011, and wish the very best for our friends and family!

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-14T12:26:00.001-08:00

"Santa, I would like to have a metal detector and ten rolls of tape."

Remember when the boys asked Santa for snow shovels? They have put them to very good use and endeared themselves to every one of our neighbors. Now they up the ante and ask for metal detectors so they can find nails in the alley! And Carson wants ten rolls of tape because Mummy and Daddy keep complaining that he's using too much for his art projects.

Funky hair day at school! How they came up with the crimson and blue combo, we don't know... Both CNMs are doing better at school. Much like last year with Conner, we feel like Carson is starting to understand expectations in the classroom and is not misbehaving quite as much. Mummy has been volunteering at school each week, which the boys love!

We have a cub scout! Daddy is getting a kick out of helping Conner get his activity beads, bobcat and tiger patches, pinewood derby...a few things have changed, but so much is the same!

Carson was feeling left out, having no lip injury blog pictures. So now he has one! And he may have one-upped Conner because this one seems to have included a tooth injury as well. His teeth are so squeezed into his little mouth that our dentist has warned us to "save up." Not a single loose tooth yet!

The boys are reading better every day. Carson is leading the school for kindergarteners, and Conner is catching up to his 1st grade classmates. His math skills are exceptional, reading is about average. Daddy loves reading Dr. Suess to them any time they ask. Our whole family hopes you have a fabulous holiday season. Let us know if you need any lost metal objects found!

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and...b-ball

2010-11-29T08:19:00.000-08:00

With two days to spare, we squeeze in a November entry! Feels weird to be highlighting Halloween several days after turkey day. The boys were decked out as dinosaur and knight in shining armor. We had to give constant reminders that knights and dinosaurs are friends...its knights and dragons who don't get along. Sheathe your sword, good sir!

Our neighborhood has a rep for giving out the good stuff. Here is pictoral proof. The bottom left hand corner of this picture is titled "Daddy's stash."

Let us not forget Conner's seventh b-day!! This pic looks pretty similar to another taken just 44 days earlier. The weather was very cooperative, so we got to be in the biggest room in the house...the porch!

Conner cleaned house with cool b-day presents. Both boys have superior building skills (unbiased opinion), but Conner gets the nod for extreme lego abilities. This fighter jet kit was suggested for ages 7-12, and he powered through it in no time. Architect? Engineer?

I know what you're thinking: Mummy and Daddy are starting to get pretty creative with their time outs. No, actually Carson put himself in this situation and was actually quite proud of his little contortionist self. We can't stress enough how wonderful it has been to have such warm fall months!

We all went to a KU b-ball game together for the first time in late November. It was a blast! We had hoped to see Sasha Kaun, an alum of the team from the same area in Siberia as the boys. He had attended the last several games but missed this one. Bummer! Carson even wore his Russian hockey jersey for the occasion.

We got to tour the control room at halftime. That was a treat! The boys were mesmorized by all the televisions. We had to enact the "hands in pockets" rule because there were more buttons and nobs than in an airplane cockpit!

The noise at these games can be pretty extreme, so Conner had earplugs in. When the above picture was taken, Carson was busy collecting shreaded newspaper to throw in the air and annoy the students sitting around him...

The boys got to take some pics themselves, and this one was by far the best. We decided not to offer the extreme close-ups they took of their parents. It was a fun evening and so great for the whole fam to successfully attend a game together.

Tearing up the back steps! All three boys really enjoyed this project. We are preparing for our big home renovation project that will hopefully begin in early spring. We have to clear out much of the back yard, and the CNMs are up for it! We look forward to the upcoming holiday season and hope you get lots of family time, presents and candy!

Kitties, cars and home improvement

2010-10-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

Fall is in full effect! Our dear friends Ernie and Trisha have two cats that love playing with the CNMs. Above, Carson is showing us how much Roscoe loves being carried around in his wicker basket. Rudy is in the background patiently waiting his turn.

Blue lips! Daddy was the only one who didn't partake in the blue cotton candy at this KU tailgating tent. It made Mummy channel some of her goth days back in the 90s...

The boys love tailgating, don't so much love watching the actual games. You may have seen from our last post that Conner suffered a tailgating injury. Well, as you can see by the above picture, he has healed both physically and mentally, and we still visit the site of the crash before each game.

Car show!! Uncle Ted encouraged us to go with him to this awesome event. Daddy forced the boys to pose in front of many Thunderbirds. They were particularly intrigued by the car that "folded in half" so you could see the insides really well. They are pictured below peeking in.

One of the coolest things we did at the show was spend some time with military personell and their transportation. In the above picture, a soldier helped the boys and their cousin Alex work the crane remotely to pick up and move a folding chair.

It feels like the boys grow out of clothes overnight. We are trying to collect cold weather clothes because nothing from last year seems to fit. They we willing to pose with some of their new duds, and we're wondering if they have a future in clothes modeling. :-)

As the boys grow, our house somehow shrinks. Yep, you guessed it. We're considering building an addition. Very soon it will no longer be comfortable for all four of us to share an upstairs bath. And the play area is way to small for the boys to bring their friends over. So, we bite the bullet and start plans for a big home improvement project! Wish us luck...

School, airplanes and b-days

2010-09-20T11:38:00.001-07:00

Howdy! Here are two very grown up boys preparing for their first days of Fall 2010. Big, big changes in our world this year. Conner is a 1st grader and Carson a kindergartener. Our school does all-day kindergarten, so both boys leave us Mon thru Fri (early release Wed).

Pretty happy dudes in the car heading to Pinkney elementary. They have been watching out for each other the first month. We understand that one will frequently ask the teachers at reccess if they have seen his brother in the yard.

The obligatory pic of the new kindergartener in front of the Pinkney Elementary sign. Remember Conner's? Carson came a bit more prepared than Conner, since he used to ask us to copy Conner's homework almost every day so he could do it alongside his older bro.

Every morning, our school does a K-thru-4th assembly in the gym to start the day. The boys position themselves strategically to be close to one another in their respective class lines. Also important to report that they BOTH have little female classmates they are fond of...

Oh, wow. A definite highlight of our late summer was flying in the single prop at the Van Warmer's house! This is our friend Jill's dad who lives close to the boys' grandparents and has a hanger and runway at his home!

First Carson went up, with his brother watching closely...

Then Conner followed. They both loved it, but Mummy and Daddy wonder if they really understand what a rare treat they were given. Mr. Van Warmer said next year: the Ultralight!

It was such a trip sitting in the allbeit expansive V.W. backyard watching the boys take off and land. Many thanks to the boys' superstar pilot who landed the plane so gently each time.

Happy b-day Carson! For the next month, we have two six year olds. Carson had some very specific instructions for his cake. Yellow star in the middle, ballon on the back, white cake with chocolate frosting, and a strawberry in the center. His wish was Mummy's command.

And boy, did he clean up on presents!! Remote control race car, big red fire truck, spider man truck/boat/jet, the list goes on. Happy kid. We had his grandparents over on Sept 11th for this party. It was an overly exciting day because...

Before the party, Daddy took the boys to a tailgate party prior to the Jayhawks HUGE football victory over #15 Georgia Tech. Riding down Mt. Oread in a wagon, entertaining throngs of tailgaters, the boys accidently steered their craft into a parking lot and crashed. Carson had a bloody nose, Conner a bloody lip. The nose was fine in a few minutes, but as evidenced by the above unhappy pic, Conner required two stitches from an E.R. doctor. Took it like a stud!

Chicago & Camp Birchwood close out the summer

2010-08-27T07:31:00.001-07:00

Hiya! Just a bit behind on our blog entries. The boys have started school, Daddy has started a new job, and Mummy said goodbye to Halcyon House with mixed emotions. But that will all have to wait while we show you pics from our fab summer vacation!

The fam hopped on a plane to Chicago to visit Aunt Jilly and Uncle Ronan. Remember last year's trip? We had a wonderful time once again. Above is Conner as a part of a unique display at the Chicago zoo...

What a cool downtown fountain this was! If you look closely, you'll see two shirtless CNMs splashing around. We don't have pics of the Cubs game, Lego Store or witnessing the filming of a scene from Transformers III, but the Field Museum was a big hit. Dinosaur bones!

When asked, Conner will say he is going to be a Paleontologist when he grows up. While his brother was measuring himself against a Brontosaurus femur, he was digging for T-Rex teeth.

We had such a nice time with Jill and Ronan. We were very well taken care of, and got to see yet more of the Midwest's coolest metropolis. We've been calling this trip the vacation of opposite extremes, because after a few days in downtown Chicago, we jetted to La Porte, Minnesota just south of the Canadian border. Camp Birchwood!

Our neighbors the Bredemus family runs this awesome kids camp, and we finally made it up to see them. We stayed right in the camp, had chow in the dining hall three times a day, and took part in a long list of activities. Archery, horseback riding, rock wall climbing, tennis, sailing and the boys' fav: playing in the lake on the floating trampoline and huge slide!

In the last entry we shared a pic of Carson navigating a sizable ocean kayak at Harvey's Lake. Here is Conner working an even bigger, less stable river kayak.

It was a great end to a big summer for us. The boys are closing in on birthdays # 6 and 7. Holy cow, they need to slow down a bit. Both boys continue to test their boundries with us. We're anxious for the end of Conner's "You always do that just to be mean" phase and Carson's extended phase of being naughty just to get our dander up! Next entry will document the first weeks of all-day school for both boys. A new life for the whole fam!

It's Gotcha Day!

2010-08-08T07:02:00.000-07:00

The Neon Masked Avengers take a break from fighting crime to celebrate the 4-year anniversary of Gotcha Day. Check here for the original day. This year, since it was the first 100 degree day of 2010, we celebrated by going to Toy Story 3D and then "breakfast for dinner" at IHOP. (not our usual dining destination, but kids eat free from 4 to 10 p.m...)

Hard to believe it has been 4 years since we brought an almost 2-year old and an almost 3-year old home from Kras. They boys are growing up before our eyes, and within days will both be at Pinkney Elementary from 8 to 3 Monday thru Friday! (except for early release Wednesdays, Mummy wishes to point out)

We promised more pics from our early July vacation to Harvey's Lake, PA. Ashamed to admit that we're still collecting them, but here are a few. Tubing was one of the favorite activities, along with kayaking as seen below.

Both boys hopped in cousin Geoff's ocean kayak and skillfully navagated the craft by themselves even though both the boat and the paddles dwarfed them. It did, however, prepare them well for our late July vacation to Camp Birchwood. More on that later...

Our little engineer built this off-road vehicle out of Connex, then proceeded to build a bigger, more elaborate dragster with help from cousin Kyliegh. Conner continues to impress with his constructive skills. We'll see how that translates in the classroom. He has received reading tutoring from his soon-to-be first grade teacher this summer. How great to help them form a bond before class even starts!

Daddy playing guitar with his Daddy, Carson playing a less hip guitar with Daddy.

So, we say goodbye to summer and hello to full time elementary school for both boys. We owe you a full entry on our wonderful vacation to Chicago to visit Auntie Jill and Uncle Ronan, and the immediately following trip to Minnesota to our neighbors' summer camp for kids. Both were wonderful and helped make summer 2010 truly memorable.

B-ball, the Lake and the Kras Connection

2010-07-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

Summer is flyin'! Here is the pic we got at the Bill Self b-ball camp. I know, we talked about it already...it's just that Coach Self has kind of been buggin us to put him in the blog at some point...

The three CNMs went to the Pennsylvania lake house to celebrate the Marsh family's 100th year there. What a party! We have some incredible pics that are still being collected, so we'll just shoot a couple to you right now with a promise of more to come.

The week at the lake was filled with swimming, tubing, kayaking, fishing and a whole lot of jumping off the dock. Conner and Carson had a blast with their older cousins, as evidenced with the above pic.

More pics real soon, we hope. In the meantime, here is something we've been meaning to post forever. With a busy summer schedule, we haven't gotten to connect with Ben, Chris, Catherine and Tony Parrack. We try so hard to get the four Kras Connection boys together every couple months, and just haven't recently. So instead, here is a pictoral history of the little dudes!

Here is the day they met.
Our first official play date.
The first of many swim days together.
Picnic at the Parrack's
One of our early favorites.
Putting out the 2007 bonfire.
First of three New Year's parties.
First swim at the Parrack's.
Super squeeze at the Marsh's.
Prize winner at Ben's b-day party.
Big group at Monkey Business.
Small group at Monkey Business.
After a swim in Lawrence
Goofballs at NYE '09.

Summer in full swing

2010-06-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a great early summer. The boys are heavy into swimming lessons, sports camps, reading tutoring, etc. Mummy and Daddy got a rare opportunity to dress up and go to our wonderful friends the Noltes' 30th wedding anniversary party. Barefoot Carson and Crowned Conner joined us for a picture before we left.

You may have to click on the above picture for the full effect. Carson tries very hard to keep up with his older brother's academic pursuits. He will enter kindergarten in the fall already reading and writing a bit. You really should check out the letter he wrote to his bro!

At Allen Fieldhouse for the Bill Self b-ball camp!! Daddy and Conner got to spend the night in a campus dorm (Conner's favorite part), and learn some b-ball skills from the KU players and coaches. It was awesome.

Both boys are doing the the KU sports skills camp, where you get glow-in-the-dark shirts so you're sure to be recognized anywhere on campus. They get to dabble a bit in lots of different sports to see which ones they enjoy most. This week, they get to try out tennis and (gulp) archery!! Carson calls the equipment his "bow-man arrow."

One rainy weekend day, the boys grabbed a big book of kindergarten writing and math exercises and really powered through them. Carson likes the word puzzles and Conner likes the numbers games.

"Can I borrow the car keys, Mom?" We think this looks like a very grown-up boy. You hear it from every parent on the planet that you must enjoy the time you have with your kids, because it is over in a flash. It's pictures like these that help remind us of how fast the CNMs are growing up!!

After going with Mummy to the library, there is usually a reading session on the front steps. Conner's first grade teacher is helping him with his reading so he can hit the ground running in August. We have a trip to the PA lake house soon, then home for a bit before going to Chicago and Minnesota to visit close friends. Slow down, summer!!!

G'bye school, hello summer

2010-05-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

It is the end of an era, no doubt. The boys are finishing school for the year, one saying goodbye to kindergarten and the other saying goodbye to pre-school. Conner escorted Mummy to the Pinkney Elementary Mother's Day Tea. Both got dressed up for the event!

The class did a lovely presentation for all the mothers. They were told to dress up, and not only did Conner follow that request, but you see him dutifully tucking his shirt in for the picture. He has done a great job this year. We need to work hard with him on reading over the summer, but he flys through his math homework. Engineer? Architect? Archeologist??

Wonderful Ms. Kathy. The whole Marsh family will really miss the Giving Tree Preschool. It was the perfect place for us, giving us the flexibility to send the boys part-time. They got a fantastic education from some saintly teachers. Carson dressed up for his last day of school. The bow tie he is wearing was worn by his great grandfather!

It will be a summer of great change for us. School is out, camps will begin soon, some fun vacations, and even some job changes for the parents. We hope to report some exciting summer events and activities that will prepare us for the biggest change of all: two boys in all day school in three months!!

Are they ready? Are we ready? Is the school ready?!

Enjoying the springtime

2010-04-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

Howdy! Here are a couple goofballs on the steps. They are wearing their wetsuits in preparation for swimming lessons. Getting ready for a summer filled with water sports! Summer already...wow. Time flies, right? Tomorrow marks the four year anniversary of us first meeting the boys in Krasnoyarsk.

Ok, yeah, they made it into the paper again. Here is Carson checking himself out. the picture is of his Mummy and him playing baseball outside the house. Here's a link to the website. Some people are accusing us of being on the paper's payroll. Wish that were true...

The boys went to Chris Parrack's birthday party this month. We've never seen a party quite like this one. The whole clan jumped into a dirt pile and dug for buried treasure. Here's a picture. Our boys are in the foreground on the right. Happy 6th, Chris!

Here are a bunch of Marsh and Kyle cousins doing the Easter egg thing. And down below is the larger group after the Easter egg hunt. Thanks to the Smiths for hosting such a big event!

Knights in shining armor

2010-03-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

Happy early spring everyone! The Marsh family appeared in the local paper in a very different way this month. Above is a small ad that went in utility bills. Click on the picture and you'll see us walking down Mass St (minus Conner who unfortunately got cut out of the pic.)

Monday is the only day that both Mummy and Daddy work, so Grandma comes to take the boys to and from school. Above, she does overtime by staying with us late enough to read a book to the boys just before bedtime. Thanks Grandma!

The biggest news for the month was the St. Patty's Day Parade. For a couple years, the boys have helped SuperDave build the Sandbar float. Remember last year's train? Well, this year they were invited to be ON the float during the parade!

Last year it was 80 degrees for St Patrick's Day. Not so this year... The three CNMs loved it nonetheless. The smiling little guy above was so taken by the float itself, that he drew a picture of it by memory for a school project a week or two later. We think it rocks! Take a look for yourself.

The boys got foam swords and midevil outfits (over their winter coats.) Daddy got to join them. We looked out of the first floor window of the ultimately cool castle, complete with drawbridge and smoking dragon!

We danced and waved at all the nice people on Mass St. It was quite the experience. Can't wait to start spending more time outside with warm weather and spring happiness. We hope you are enjoying the beginning of the new season.

Winter whisked away with a wolfy waterpark

2010-02-28T12:18:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Just barely got in a February entry! Things have been chugging right along in the Marsh household. Check out Conner, the toothless wonder! Yes, the big boy tooth is already coming in and the other front tooth will probably come out this week.

Carson really digs Valentines Day. His new favorite phrase is "I am falling in love of you!" Usually that phrase is directed towards Mummy. We lost sweet Mujibur, the cat that Mummy got before the boys or even Daddy were in the picture. Carson, upon hearing that Muji died, said he was going to buy Mummy an otter to make her feel better.

We feel further and further away from the world of international adoption, but are still amazed at the enormous changes that world is experiencing. Check out the extreme drops in numbers yet again, and then go to the website we've referenced to see that Ethiopia has shot up to the number two spot on the ever-changing list. We marvel at our lucky timing.

The big news of the month was the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, KS. What a party! This was our consolation prize for not making a Florida trip this winter. Below are a couple pics of the cool room we stayed in.

Mummy and Daddy's bedroom...

And the boys' room. Carson is king of the bed making. Does it every morning. No different at the Lodge. We played so hard at the waterpark, that the minute their heads hit those pillows, they were out. Same with the following night!

Can you guess who that is? It was quite a leap of faith for the boys to do the water slides themselves. They loved it. Daddy has never had a two-day workout like this. Can't count the number of steps we climbed nor the number of times we slid down from on high. All three CNMs are still recovering.

If you look really hard, you'll see Conner and Daddy getting doused by the Lodge's signature water bucket. Every 10 mintues or so, a bucket the size of our dining room dumped thousands of gallons on the guests. Mummy took this picture as she sat in the 84 degree watching area.

We look forward with great anticipation to the spring. Bring on the warm weather, the flowers, the basketball... :-)x

Happy 2010

2010-01-05T08:28:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone! The Marsh fam had a great holiday, and we're a little sad it has come to a close. Yesterday was the first day back at school for the CNMs, and we feel like we went from zero to sixty in two days!

The biggest story of the holidays has to be the snow. Holy cow! In one week, Lawrence had about a foot and a half of snow. We did some major shoveling, and the neighbors were happy to discover that the boys still love it. Lest you think their parents are slavedrivers, we did a significant amount of sledding and snowmanning too.

Check out the bling on this king! Carson got promoted from shepherd to king this year. Remember the two shepherds from last year's preschool program? Conner did a good job supporting little bro this year, and Carson did a fine job singing in his kingly robe.

Presents, presents, presents. Everything from Star Wars legos to foam swords to remote control cars. These guys cleaned up! We had a great time on Christmas Eve with Mema and Grandpa, and had fun at home Christmas day (8 inches of white Christmas overnight) and went to Grandma's house for Christmas dinner. How lucky we are to have the extended family just 45 minutes down the highway.

The third annual Kras Connection New Years Celebration! What a blast. We had an awesome dinner with the Parracks (watched Mizzou lose the Texas Bowl...sorry Tony), then played hard before the boys went to bed in tents in Ben's bedroom! That was really cool until they all woke up very chipper at 5:30 a.m...

Daddy convinced them to settle back down till about 7 a.m. (by joining them in the tent), then we had a very yummy french toast breakfast and enjoyed the Parrack's new Wii. Rounded out a fantastic new years with brunch at the Nolte's. The boys loved the attention from the Nolte girls and their two new puppies. Bears mentioning: NYE was the 10 year anniversary of the best decision Curtis ever made: proposing to Rochelle!

We've said it before: these guys are puzzle masters!! Here is the before...

...and here is the after! They have 16--count 'em 16--Disney puzzles, and they can fly through each of them. This is one of the biggest, with 500 pieces. We did a lot of indoor activities this holiday season, and continue to do so with temps in the single digits. The family is doing well, except for a mild case of cabin fever. We are so thankful for wonderful friends and family. Hope you all have a fabulous start to the new decade!

Glasses for Christmas?

2009-12-11T11:09:00.001-08:00

Happy holidays, everyone! Who is this grown up, professorial young man with Santa?! Yup, it's Conner with his new glasses. He picked them out himself, and really seems to like them. They stay safely in their case when he's not wearing them, and he's super careful when handling them. He likes showing them off, and (biased opinion) looks pretty darn good in them!

It has been well below freezing lately, and we've been doing some serious sledding down the hill in our neighborhood. But rewind a couple weeks, and we got introduced to trail riding! Our neighbors, Ernie and Trisha, are serious trail riders, and took the three CNMs to the awesome trails in North Lawrence. The boys were fantastic!

Above, Carson is sporting his Spiderman bike at the exact spot where he went over his handlebars at the bottom of a big hill. The ride before this one, we boldly went on almost the entire trail which resulted in about a seven mile ride. Mummy had three very, very tired boys that night.

And here is our little man showing off his school pictures outfit. Both the boys' pics came out so well this year (another biased opinion). They dig wearing their ties. Carson get's to do his school's holiday pageant next week, and has been promoted from shepherd to king. Conner will finish his first semester of kindergarten next week and has really settled in well and is thriving.

Don't really know what predicated this pose, but we thought it was worth sharing. Maybe Conner is getting info from Carson by some kind of telepathy... we're having a great time leading up to Christmas '09. Looking forward to spending time with family and friends, and having our third annual Kras Connection New Years party.

painting pumpkins picture in the paper

2009-11-05T12:49:00.000-08:00

You may be getting tired of hearing it, but we're not. "The boys made it in the paper again!" This time it was only Carson. Poor guy has to get some kind of benefit from not being at school every day like his older brother.

He came to see Daddy at KU the day they were doing a Halloween open house. A student newspaper photographer caught him painting a pumpkin. Here is a link to the paper. You'll have to scroll down a ways, because he appeared on pg 7A. How dare they bury him like that! Don't they know our boys are front page material?!

trick or treat or tailgate

2009-11-02T13:02:00.001-08:00

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

2009-10-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

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 we 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

2009-09-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

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?!

2009-08-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-19T08:56:00.001-07:00

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!

2009-08-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

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."

Lovin summer

2009-07-14T07:37:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone! Only our second post of the summer. We've celebrated Independence Day with our beloved neighbors, visited the Marsh family lake house, and as illustrated above, Conner lost his first tooth!! For several weeks, he's had two big boy teeth growing behind some loose ones. A couple nights ago, while sitting in bed not going to sleep (grrrr!), he decided to pull the tooth out himself. We called the grandparents because he said he wanted to "spread the news!"

Our little readers, sitting out by the fish pond. They go with Mummy to the library each week and choose new books. We haven't quite gotten to the point where they are truly reading, but they can spell out words and are starting to understand how you put the sounds together.

"I'm king of the world!!" Carson is our little daredevil. The three CNMs went to the lake house in Pennsylvania for a week and had a great time tubing, swimming, rowing, etc. We had lots of fun with our New York cousins, and took major strides towards being avid swimmers.

No, the boys didn't try their luck at jet skiing, but cousin Nate let them hop on board for a photo opp. Conner was fascinated by the jet ski, as he is every motorized vehicle. Remember, his first English words were bus, truck, and van...

Here are the CNMs with some of the extended fam. It gives Daddy great pleasure to see Conner and Carson enthusiastically waking up the NY cousins at the crack of dawn just as the NY cousins did to Daddy when they were the boys' age.

July 4th, 2009 was a wonderful celebration in Old West Lawrence. We took part in the neighborhood parade with our tricked out scooters, then invited Mema and Grandpa to join us in the neighborhood park to watch the awesome Lawrence firework display. It was one day after returning very late from the lake, so we had two straight evenings where the boys almost saw midnight. Very unusual, since they go to bed at 7:30 on the nose every night!

Legos rule. That's all there is to it. The boys can sit for long periods of time building all sorts of unique creations. As evidence that their parents do not force them to be organized, here they are color coordinating every Lego piece. Seriously, we didn't even ask them to do it! Anyway, we hope you are enjoying your summer, and we look forward to updating you on THE FIRST DAYS OF SCHOOL!!

turtles, tractors, teeth and...(the)sandbar

2009-06-01T07:51:00.001-07:00

Whoah, where did May go? We've had a lovely time with Mummy's favorite month. (we celebrated her 28th b-day yesterday). It has been such a great month that we missed putting an entry in by one day. But this will be a long one, with fun pics and new activities, so buckle up!

Aaargh, mateys! Here be two pirates bellied up to the Sandbar throwin down two waters on the rocks. Mind you, this was the middle of the day, the bar was closed, and we were just saying a quick hello to SuperDave while he worked on their outdoor patio. He was so great to give the boys such cool toys for their libations! They even made it onto the Sandbar blog!

Preschool ended mid-May, and the school celebrated with a field-trip to the Deanna Rose petting zoo. Mummy and the boys had a nice time, and got this fun pic in between pettings. It certainly has been an adjustment, having both boys home all day! Just think of the adjustment in two and a half months, when Conner goes to all-day kindergarten.

Here are all the Marsh cousins, minus Branden who was snoozing. We went to cousin Casey's lake house in April, and cousin Kyliegh's house in Wellsville in May. We are prepping for a trip to the Pennsylvania lake house this month, and to Chicago in July to see Aunt Jilly and Uncle Ronan's new house. That trip will be the first time all four of us have flown together since coming home in August '06.

Can we please have just one entry without Jayhawk pictures??!!

No.

Sweet ride! And the boys are sporting their farmer's overalls too. They have been really good helpers with yardwork this month. They are great mulchers, gardeners and weed pullers! What they lack in efficiency, they make up for in enthusiasm.

You can't see it in this close-up, but Conner has a way-loose tooth. And the new one is not waiting at all. He tells everyone he sees, "I have a loose tooth! And a big-boy tooth right behind it!" Grandpa keeps suggesting we tie a string between the tooth and his Jeep...

Check it out! We inherited a turtle! Adam and Erin, from Daddy's work, were looking for a good home for a 13 year-old "red eared slider." The boys are really jazzed. They are taking care of him, making sure he doesn't get out of sight (very fast turtle), and helped us make a habitat for him in the back yard. We haven't decided whether to keep his given name, "Plato," or choose a new one. Conner wants to name him Max, and Carson wants to name him Toad. :-)

Yeah, another pic with the Sandbar goodies. Click on the pic to enlarge it, and you'll see that Carson's glasses have green eyes and Conner's have blue. From day one, we color coded these boys. Everything from toys to underpants. Conner gets blue and Carson gets green, unless green isn't an option, then he gets red. Although red supposedly encourages hyperactivity, so we are sort of rethinking that choice...

Spring has officially sprung

2009-04-22T12:30:00.001-07:00

Happy spring from the Marsh clan. We finally feel like spring is truly here. Lots of ups and downs in the weather department, keeping us indoors more than we'd like. But we've had a fun April, so here's what's up:

Mummy and the boys had a blast dying Easter eggs for the first time. Notice the high-fashion smocks the boys are wearing, made from Grandpa's old button downs. It was kind of funny to see them find their first "real" eggs and squeeze them too hard, thinking they were plastic. Quite the surprise when the shell broke!

The boys just don't make it into our local paper enough. Here they are, riding their bikes on the city b-ball court. Here is the link to the newspaper page. They are learning to ride without training wheels, and without pedals. Just about time to put the pedals back on and see how they do.

Birthday party at Monkey Business in Olathe! Oh, man that was a fun place. A huge room filled with inflatables and climbables. All three CNMs slept well that night. The boys are on the far right, and our beloved Kras Connection is just left of center. It was Chris Parrack's b-day.

Here we are after the party. We needed a current picture of the fam for our final post-placement report. Can you imagine, they want us to report on the boys' well-being three years after the adoption? We're proud to report, they are doing fine.

Speaking of adoption, this is probably the last time we'll post an update to the international adoption stats chart. It has been interesting to see how the numbers have changed since 2005, when we started the process. You can see that the downward slide continues for all except Korea, although Russia's numbers decreased less than the other top three.

Since we opened the March entry with the cool Magformer toys, let's end the April one with them. These toys are so cool that we continue to add to the collection. The boys astound us with their ability to put geometric shapes together and make up new ones that are maybe less geometric. Conner went to kindergarten round up this morning, so our sweet little babies are starting to grow up. Slow down, boys!!

trains and trumpets

2009-03-26T08:35:00.001-07:00

Hiya from the Marsh house. How can March already be almost over? Above, the boys are pictured playing with one of their favorite new toys--ok, it is primarily Daddy's favorite new toy--but the boys love it too! Hard to describe, but they are basically magnetic lego-type things. Daddy made a gardening hat for Carson and a crown for Conner.

St. Patricks Day was really big this year. The three CNMs went to the parade, and skipped naptime for the first time ever! Yes, there have been several naptimes that didn't include sleep, but 3-17 was the first day we went from before breakfast till after dinner without heads hitting pillows. Here is the float that the boys thought was by far the best.

And here they are getting a ride in it! The Sandbar folks are awefully nice to Conner and Carson, and this year they let them climb up into the float and pretend to drive the train. Click on the picture to see Conner's way-cool St. Pat's outfit. The bowtie lights up!

Kind of looks like he is playing Reveille to wake up Mummy and Daddy, doesn't it?

Biased opinion, of course, but both boys are pretty darned good at playing the trumpet! They haven't quite mastered different notes, but the whole neighborhood knows when they are playing...

balloon guitars!

2009-02-23T06:59:00.000-08:00

Happy winter's-almost-over, everyone. The three CNMs went downtown for haircuts one day, and came back with working balloon guitars! We jammed for Mummy, and Conner even imitated his favorite musician, The Boss. We saw Springsteen's Superbowl halftime show, so Conner's performance was pretty accurate!

"Baby we were booorrrrnnn to ruuuunnn!!"

The boys are sportin their new camouflage dinosaur pjs. If it's not dump trucks and bulldozers, it's dinosaurs. Their favorite game when we go outside--especially for Carson--is asking to be chased by saying, "would you almost get me like a dinosaur?!"

Now that's a stick pike!! A sizable tree went down in Mema and Grandpa's back yard. The boys thought it was the perfect playground, and you have to admit, it's safer than climbing the trees that haven't fallen yet!

Conner "Picaso" Marsh will start kindergarten in the fall. He's been working on letters and numbers, and is getting pretty good at signing his "chalk on concrete" illustrations. We really can't believe it is time to start sending these little dudes to school. If we're not careful, we'll turn around and they'll be driving each other to Lawrence High!

2009 already?

2009-01-28T13:31:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone! Pretty chilly in the Heartland, so we've been bundled up and shoveling snow like superstars. No new videos to share with you, but rest assured the boys are still taking care of all the neighbors' snow removal needs.

The newest thing in our lives is the school schedule. Carson is in the same class as last year, Tuesday and Thursday mornings. But Conner has graduated to pre-K, and going Monday Wednesday Friday mornings. So, for the first time since we picked them up from their orphanages, the boys are spending a fair amount of time apart! Good practice for this fall, when Conner goes to all-day kindergarten.

Monster trucks!! We love 'em. This is all three boys at cousin Casey's birthday party in Kansas City. Our first experience with Chucky Cheese! It was a good one, because as you see by the pictures, we had the place almost to ourselves.

Stuart Little, one of the boys' (and Mummy's) favorite movies.

Conner in his race car--symbolizing how quickly the new year has started and is already flying down the race track at full speed. Both boys are growing like weeds and are learning cool new things every day at school, from their beloved Miss Kathy and Miss Donna.

Happy Holidays

2008-12-28T12:27:00.001-08:00

Seasons greetings from Conner and Carson! It has been a fun Christmas for us this year. The boys really got it this year, and responded very well to our constant reminders that Santa was watching. We got our annual publicity on the local news channel.
Click here to see the boys shoveling the whole neighborhood.

We also had our first Christmas play. C&C were shepards, with outfits expertly crafted by their Mummy. The show was all holiday music, and Carson actually did a little bit of singing. Conner was more interested in looking at the scenery.

Yes, the boys did just fine by Santa. Lots of new toys, puzzles, tinker toys, bouncy balls, sock monkeys, you name it. They got super big dump trucks that work very well with the sit down scoopers that Carson demonstrates in the picture below.

Both boys totally dig their new toys. (yeah, I said it) They spent an afternoon scooping pebbles from Ernie and Trisha's yard and putting them into the dump trucks. We had a record-high 66 degree day after Christmas, which allowed us to do lots of outdoor activity. Conner played king of the mountain on a back yard brush pile.

It really was fun sharing Christmas with the boys this year. They got so excited about Santa and presents and singing. Their parents got into the Christmas spirit bigtime while watching C&C enjoy themselves so much. We hope you had a great holiday too, and a very happy new year.

Happy Anniversary!

2008-12-02T08:16:00.001-08:00

Today is a big day for the Marsh fam. Mummy and Daddy had their very first date on December 2, 1998. The date was at America's Pub in Westport, where a mutual friend was playing in a metal band! Mummy asks that we not mention it was (t...e...n...) years ago. Carson and Conner plan on taking their parents out to dinner tonight.

We had a nice Thanksgiving at the Mema and Grandpa's house. The boys didn't have a very good naptime after the meal, so they didn't get pumpkin pie (such strict parents!!). We were so proud that they took their punishment like little men and played quietly in the living room while the adults had dessert. Only later, when they began asking excessively to go to the potty, did we discover TWELVE empty wrappers in the bowl of Hershey's Kisses where they were playing!

Yeah, you are surely going to get tired of seeing pics of the guys in Jayhawk garb. Sorry, can't help it. They got tattoos (temporary...) and balloon hats in anticipation of the big, big, big football game last weekend. Apologies to any MU fans, but holy cow that was an awesome game. Go Jayhawks!!

The boys are really excited for Christmas. More so than last year. We took them to Lawrence's version of the Plaza lighting where they saw Santa get rescued from the roof of a department store. We still can't get them to pinpoint what they want for Christmas, but we should probably enjoy that now and prepare for the years that they come at us with a two-page list. Happy Holidays to all our friends and family!!

Monkeys and birthdays

2008-11-06T12:37:00.001-08:00

Hey there! Long time no post! The leaves are falling, the days are getting shorter and school is in full swing. We hope your autumn has started well.

Here is the Kras Connection. We got to spend some quality time with Ben and Chris Parrack last month. Above, the boys are playing at Ben's 4th birthday. For most of the month of October, the Kras Connection will always be the same age! We also had a super-duper time with the Parracks at their annual bonfire. We camped out with them and had a blast.

Happy Halloween! You might recognize these costumes from last year. Too cute not to use again, although you'll see they were a bit highwater. The two monkeys enjoyed trick or treating around the neighborhood, and wearing their monkey suits to pre-school and even up on campus at Daddy's office.

Here is five year-old Conner, cheesin for the camera. Looks like he is ready for Mardi Gras. Really, he's just cheering for the Jayhawks during game day. The boys went with Daddy to this year's Homecoming game, and actually made it all the way to halftime!

Happy b-day to both boys. Carson very specifically asked for a chocolate cake, with chocolate icing and chocolate sprinkles. You guess what kind of ice cream...

Here's the extended Marsh side of the family after Aunt Heather gave a piano concert. We got to see both sides in the last month. We said goodbye to Grandma Wiley last week. Carson asked if Mummy was going to drive her to heaven. We say goodnight to all the grandparents and great-grandparents every night before bedtime.

We keep thinking this won't last, but since we came home two years ago, the boys have loved shoveling snow and raking leaves. They are pictured above, having helped Grandma fill fifteen bags full of locust beans.

Here we are saying goodbye to the little red wagon. It went back to the Shumway's house, and they traded us for two big-boy scooters. So cool! Both boys are learning to ride a bike without training wheels, which goes a little slower, but teaches them balance from the beginning. We hope you've had a great early fall, and we promise not to wait so long in between blogs anymore!

Frist day of school for the boys

2008-09-05T08:31:00.001-07:00

Conner and Carson had their first day of preschool yesterday! They will go two mornings a week, at a school just four blocks from home. Pretty exciting stuff. The first day went very well, especially considering that Conner came down with a cold the night before. His first in several months! What are the odds...

They are in the same class, but the class gets split in two groups almost every day, and they'll be in seperate groups. We did this on purpose, because starting in January, Conner will move on to a pre-kindergarten class that meets at a different time. These boys have spent almost every waking moment together the last two years, so it's time to instill some independence!

The boys were very proud of their cool backpacks and boxes. Check out the custom-designed bulldozer lids that Mummy painted for them. You know they had the coolest boxes in the whole class!

Yes, there was a bit of trepidation the first few minutes. They sat down in a big circle with 20+ other children. Only four of them were girls, so we hope the teachers are strong willed. :-) The reports we got from them afterwards was that both boys did very well. Conner's favortie part was playing with the cars, and Carson's was...snack time!

Here are the boys on a very unique swing. It was actually a design project that a KU student hung on campus. We weren't 100% sure it was supposed to be used, but it looked like it was built just for us, so we hopped on and went for a fun ride.

Three monkeys at the Topeka zoo. We have been so jazzed with the mild summer. It has allowed us to spend so much time outside without the fear of heat overload! Here's hoping for a long fall. Frosty winter can wait in the wings as long as it would like!

It's Gotcha Day!!

2008-08-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

Two years ago today, Mummy and Daddy stood in a Siberian courthouse for an hour and a half, proving we were worthy of bringing home two beautiful little boys. It is amazing to look back on that time and feel like it is ancient history. Here are some before and after pics for perspective.

After tomorrow, Carson will have been with us longer than he was in Russia. That day doesn't come for Conner untill June 26, 2009. We don't quite know how to celebrate these days, but we know they are certainly noteworthy. It kind of solidifies our notion that we are a happy, healthy, cohesive family.

Raising two little boys can really be a puzzle. Sometimes the pieces fit together perfectly, and sometimes you think you've got pieces to three or four different puzzles. Above, the boys show off their completed "big boy puzzle" that neighbor Deborah let them borrow. They both really enjoy puzzles, and are quite good at them. (unbiased opinion)

Here is the 2007 Gotcha Day post.
Here is the 2006 Gotcha Day post.

Summer lovin

2008-07-31T11:52:00.001-07:00

Wow, we have a lot to catch up on! Our second summer has gone very well, including lots of fun times with family and friends. The boys start pre-school in a month, so we're trying to squeeze in as much summer lovin as we can.

This was an especially great day spent with cousin Kyliegh and her fam. They have horses, four-wheelers and a trampoline that kept us very well entertained. It was the first time on horses for the boys, and first time on ATVs for Mummy and Daddy!

Cousins Jake and Jack sent us lots of very cool hand-me-downs. Above, you see the great hunter giving a big squeeze to the great businessman. The boys are really growing, at close to 40lbs and just over 40 inches. Conner has Carson by a pound and an inch (or two.)

Sidewalk chalking at its finest! Conner wouldn't tell us whether this was a self-portrait or one of the McDonald's Fry Guys.

Is it cruel to post this one? Yes, that is Elmo peeking out of Carson's pants. On this day, he had the unfortunate combination of shorts that were too big for him and an obsession with a tree branch that was just out of reach. Elmo love Carson's underwear!

We had another awesome Kras Connection this month. The boys went to see the trains at the Lawrence Visitors Center, then played bigtime at the park. Here they are above, saying das vadanya with a super Kras squeeze.

This is the inside page of a small bible that was given to the first CNM one hundred years ago. You can see that it was handed down to all the subsequent CNMs until coming to us this year. Conner and Carson are the fifth and sixth CNMs in the Marsh family. Here's the full story. Their Daddy was very proud to introduce them to the Marsh lake house in Pennsylvania this month. The house was built by the first CNM and has hosted six generations.

The boys loved the lake. Conner swam back and forth from dock to dock, and they both took flying leaps into the water. They slept very, very well each night. It was the first time they had been on a plane since coming here from Russia. Thankfully, it was a very smooth experience, and they seem to remember nothing of the first flight.

Good thing it is a big lake and a big house. At one point in the week, there were twelve Kansas Marshes and seven New York Marshes, plus the beloved matriarch, Gamilee, who held us all together. The boys enjoyed a front seat view of July 4th fireworks over the lake.

Our little Guitar Heros! No, they didn't play the video game, they just strapped on the guitars long enough for the photo opp. Please disregard the miniature paper airplanes stuck to the fireplace grate...

With as many as 20 people at the dinner table, it was important to have good table manners. Both boys passed that test with flying colors. Above, Conner shows cousin Spencer how to patiently wait for cookies and ice cream. There are so many other great pics of our summer activities, so hopefully we can pull another entry together soon. We hope you are having a fabulous summer with as much ice cream as possible!!

Wonderful watersports

2008-06-11T12:18:00.000-07:00

Happy sumertime, everyone! The Marsh clan hopes you are having a great time outside, and we'd like to share some of our adventures with you.

Our cousin Kyliegh and her family gave us these cool wetsuits which have helped a great deal with otherwise chilly early summer swimming. We just finished taking some swimming lessons where we learned how to turn on our back and float when we're alone in the water.

Here we are at Aunt Heather and Uncle Brad's lake house. Grandma loves swimming, and took us around in this cool raft. We're practicing for our July trip to the Marsh lake house in Pennsylvania. It's close to Scranton, the home of one of Mummy and Daddy's favorite tv shows, The Office!

Not everyone looks this good at 5:30 a.m. Yes, we're in a tent, and yes that's the sun rising behind us. We had an awesome sleepover at Ben and Chris's house! We slept in tents in their yard, then did some major swimming at their pool. We love our Kras Connection!!

It helped us lots to see what good swimmers Ben and Chris are. Their folks took so many great pictures of the weekend, and put lots of them on their blog! Click here to check them out.

Here is Conner, the mad scientist, forming an evil plot to stay at the Parrack's house for the rest of the week. The four Kras kids have never slept so well as they did after their weekend adventure! Daddy is still recovering.

Ok, so this one has nothing to do with water sports. But it is a pretty fun pic of Conner posing for a picture, taken by Carson with the camera he built from scratch. It is not digital, so if you want copies of any pictures he took, we'll have to mail them to you.

Bulldozers and Baby Jay

2008-05-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

Conner says hello, as he does his best "Kilroy was here" impression. The Marsh family has been outside every single possible minute this month. We've had some great weather, and great activities. Our street is still filled with bulldozers and cement trucks as they take up the 100 year-old brick and re-lay them. As we mentioned in the last entry, the boys got to express their excitement on our local cable news station.

We finally got to meet Baby Jay! What a hit. Big Jay was a bit daunting for Carson, and he seemed to be the only one we'd see up on campus. But as you can see above, the boys got to spend some quality time with Baby Jay thanks to the Alumni Association's graduation party. Want to see more? Check out this party pic website.

This picture reminds us of the days when Carson used to insist on pushing his brother around the block in the red wagon. We don't use that wagon much anymore, since the boys are a combined 70ish pounds. And just in case you're wondering, we haven't yet asked them to mow the lawn. That's an electric mower in the picture, with the extension cord nowhere in sight!

Conner stole the show at the alumni graduation party when he initiated a game of peek-a-boo with Big Jay. Notice the crimson and blue crocs. Yes, they've been immersed in more KU stuff than an average spring usually provides, but this hasn't been your average spring in Lawrence.

So, we wish you peace, love and rock chalk forever. The boys will start pre-school in the fall, at a lovely place called the Giving Tree, which is run by a friend of the family and is located just a few blocks from home. Hard to believe that school is just around the corner. We constantly wonder if we've done enough to prepare them. Just this morning, Conner told his Mummy that when he gets older, he will drive to the "place with the money" for her, and Carson said he would do the laundry. Good boys!

Go Jayhawks!!

2008-04-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

Some of you have been wondering why we haven't blogged for so long. Others know exactly why. Life has been pretty exciting in Lawrence, KS the last couple weeks!

Our friend and neighbor Mike Wildgen took this random picture of the parade, and accidently got the boys in the background. Click on the pic, start at the "N" of national champion, and head towards the top of the picture. You'll see two happy boys yelling for Sasha Kaun (who is from Siberia).

How much do Conner and Carson love the 2008 national champion KU basketball team? Hard to say. But they know that Mummy and Daddy are pretty stoked, and they've enjoyed the parties that have ensued. Here they are, with their crimson and blue dyed melons preparing for the welcome home ceremony at the football stadium!

The boys have also started really enjoying the spring, and all the cool stuff coming to life in our yard. Look closely in the picture above to see what comes up in March just in time for the ncaa tournament. Yup, crimson and blue flowers!!!

KU shirts, KU colored Crocs, KU basketball bead neclaces...who buys them all this stuff??? We live very close to Mass St. which is where the primary celebrations went on. The boys kept asking if they could go to "the party." They have also been REALLY enjoying the construction going on right outside our house. Check out this link to see the boys getting interviewed about our street getting re-bricked.

This picture doesn't seem to belong, and maybe it doesn't. But we want to lodge a formal complaint about the lack of warm weather this early spring. It feels like we've had more late snowy weather than early sunny weather. This is just a pic that Shams, our next door neighbor gave us this month and thought it would be fun to include.

Sure, there has been a bit of warm weather. Enough to break out the bubbles and have some fun outside. We really, really look forward to more consistant warmth so we can break out even more fun stuff like shorts, flip flops, and even swimsuits.

Check out the cool overalls! Aunt Bernita offered to get these for the boys because they reminded her of the overalls her father wore way back when. Hope you are having an overall great start to your spring, and GO JAYHAWKS!!

Thank goodness for Spring!

2008-03-04T12:14:00.000-08:00

Ohmygosh, it is so nice to finally feel the weather warming up! Winter was just a little too long and a little to cold this year. A bit of cabin fever may have set in, and the Marsh clan is definitely ready to welcome spring!

In order to survive the long winter, we started getting creative with our indoor activities. The boys love playing in their sleeping bags. They ask to be "covered" in them, and them squirm across the floor like inchworms. They have two sets of bags, and we alternate depending on their...moods.

By now, you know that we don't over-encourage Conner and Carson to be big Jayhawk fans, right? You know that it seems to just come naturally that they love the Jayhawk, and they love KU sports. Right? Here is Conner, the day after the big KU-KSU b-ball victory. He decided his favorite dinosaur needed to shake the crimson and blue pom pom. Go KU!

This is an updated chart from several entries ago. We have been hearing so much about the challenges faced by people who wanted to adopt children from Russia last year. We saw how drastic the changes were to policies and procedures, and wondered how that would effect the number of children who found homes. This chart shows that both China and Russia recorded significant declines in the number of visas issued for internationally adopted children. We certainly aren't knowledgeable enough to know exactly what all this means. But we know it means that 1) there are lots of sweet children in both countries who deserve good homes, and 2) we are so, so lucky to have completed the process before things got too rough.

So here are our two little dudes, cheesing for the camera, sporting rugby shirts and invisible pants. They are growing like weeds, and will both start pre-school in the fall. Until then, we will usher in the spring with lots of outdoor activities, not the least of which will be working in Mummy's new vegatable garden!

My, how they've grown

2008-02-08T07:59:00.000-08:00

We are closing in on the 1.5 year anniversary of being home. Thought it would be fun to compare some pictures. Below is one that was taken our very first day. Wow, they look like infants!

Compare that photo to the ones below, and it is hard to believe it's only been 17 months. The first one shows the boys sporting their new wool socks, lovingly knitted by Deborah, our next door neighbor. They absolutely love them, and get to wear them every time they go outside in their snow boots.

Folks have been asking us how the boys get along together. There are certainly times when they both want the same toy, or one chooses to tattle on the other. But these little guys are best friends. Our challenges with them stem most frequently from BOTH of them being naughty together. You may find that hard to believe, as we continue to post pictures like the one below...

The boys go with their Mummy every Tuesday morning to Reading Time at the public library. Last week, they brought home the Frog and Toad books, which brought back childhood memories for both their parents. Conner is doing his best interpretation of Frog in the picture below. He and Carson are sporting their Doggy and Froggy towels that Aunt Cheryl and Unlce David got for them. They don the towels and march up the stairs for bathtime every night.

We hope, as Valentine's Day approaches, your homes are filled with love and happiness. We'll close this entry with a little Russian blessing that basically means "to your health"-- Nazdrovia!

Lotsa holiday pics

2008-01-10T11:36:00.001-08:00

Boy, did we have fun this Christmas! The boys understood what was going on, and definitely got into the season. If pictures really do tell a thousand words, then here are a little over 10,000 words for you!

Here they are, sporting the cool Christmas duds Grandma bought them, and waiting to unwrap presents at Mema and Grandpa's house.

First ever visit with Santa! He was hanging out at the KU Bookstore. Even the big Jayhawk was there, dressed like Santa. Carson was a little leary, but gave him a high five after his brother convinced him it was ok.

What do you think the boys asked Santa for? Keep in mind, they watch very little tv (at least for now) and they don't know how much they need the latest electronic gizmos. Well, they asked Santa for big-boy snow shovels and a set of Lincoln Logs!

Yep, Santa was more than happy to oblige. The shovels immediately got used on grandparents' driveways and our entire neighborhood's sidewalks! These are some snow shovelin dudes.

Santa also brought the requested Lincoln Logs, and the boys have been designing and constructing some mansions. Carson is becoming a master puzzle builder. Here he is doing one that is a map of the U.S.

Not to be outdone, Conner is shown here with his existential abstract Lego mosaic.

We got lots of snow over the holidays, and when the boys weren't shoveling they were building Frosty. They entertained us daily with their version of Christmas carols we attempted to teach them. Frosty was one of their favorites. But the most memorable will be "Snee Snobby Snob," which they asked to hear every time we got into the car. That's Feliz Navidad if you need translation.

Here we are in our finest Sunday outfits during cousin Brandon's baptism. The three CNMs have begun attending church on Sundays while Mummy is taking care of a houseful of bed and breakfast guests. The church is one block from the b&b, so we enjoy saying hi to her when the service ends.

New Years Eve with the Parracks! We got together with our Kras Connection and celebrated New Years and Russian Christmas. It was a blast. We had a fantastic meal (thanks, Tony and Catherine) and the boys had lots of fun playing together, as evidenced by their cheesy grins.

Last, and maybe least, Daddy wanted to be sure everyone knew that we also celebrated the Jayhawks' extraordinary Orange Bowl victory with a few orange bowls of our own. What a wonderful holiday season it was for the Marsh clan. We hope yours was just as fun, and wish you a super, great two thousand eight.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-03T12:09:00.001-08:00

Hello, friends and family. Long time, no blog. The whole Marsh clan hopes all is well with you as the holiday season kicks into gear. The boys went to Union Station and got to ride in a king-sized version of the electric train that circles the Christmas tree. How cool is that? They definitely dig trains. That is encoded in little boy DNA, right?

While winter is certainly upon us, it was a pretty mild November. We got to do lots of leaf raking, playing in the leaf pile, leaf re-raking, and playing in the new leaf pile. To their credit, the boys did their part to re-rake the leaves after they had flattened the piles from jumping in head first.

It is high time we pay homage to the little red wagon. Our wonderful neighbors the Shumways offered this wagon to us on long-term loan when we brought the boys home last year. It has taken them everywhere. They are pictured above in the wagon waiting for the Old Fashioned Christmas Parade to begin. It is a Lawrence tradition, and consists of horse-drawn carriages from across the state and beyond. The boys loved it, and the wagon logged yet another memorable outing. Thanks, Shumways!

Here's the fam, pictured with (great) Grandpa Jack. He's not just great because he is Mummy's Daddy's Daddy, he had a career as a train engineer for Union Pacific. The boys think he is pretty cool, and like imitating his gruff voice. Thankfully, they rarely imitate his unwillingness to smile for the camera. :-)

This swing is so big, we have to hold hands to stay on it! The boys are growing and growing. It has been fun to begin referencing things from a year ago and comparing their development, both physical and behavioral. We are enjoying their growing excitement for the holidays, and remembering that they didn't even understand what we were talking about last year. They knew that they weren't supposed to touch the Christmas tree, but not much more...

We'll leave you with one of their new favorite activities, constructing architectural masterpieces with their lincoln log set. Conner could do it all day, we think. They both share pretty well, which we realize is a blessing. It is one of many things we are thankful for this holiday season, as we celebrate an extraordinary year in our house. Happy Holidays!

Happy birthday Conner, and Happy Halloween!

2007-10-29T09:17:00.000-07:00

Those four candles just didn't stand a chance. Yes, he is winding up to blow them out, not singing happy birthday to himself! If you want to hear him sing, check out this awesome YouTube video of him doing the KU Alma Mater. Daddy promises he did not lock him in a dark room until he learned it!

So, Conner's birthday this weekend was shared with the same intimate crew that helped Carson celebrate his last month. The boys, their parents, grandparents and GeeGee had a very nice time. His b-day will always come during the same week as Halloween, but we'll be sure never to combine the celebrations.

"But what are they going to be for Halloween?!" That's the usual response when we tell folks they are monkeys. Pretty awesome costumes, huh? The boys get over-the-top giddy when we let them wear them. It will be fun to parade them around the neighborhood. Daddy has already offered to dispose of the extra chocolate they receive...

We tried something new two weekends ago. Camping! Our Kras Connection, the Parracks, have a bonfire every fall on their property south of Kansas City. Mummy loves not camping, so the CNMs gave her a rare night off. The boys got to sleep in the back of the Jeep, while Daddy slept next to them in a tent. Well, Daddy lay in a tent next to them. Didn't sleep much. The boys did just fine, though, and loved playing with Ben and Chris into the night and having yummy breakfast with them the next morning. Check out more pics here.

The pumpkin patch was a fun afternoon. The boys were allowed to pick out any pumpkin they wanted...as long as they could carry it themselves! They enjoyed the hay ride behind the tractor almost as much as picking the pumpkin. Be sure to notice the message on their shirts, because it is very true that they love their Mummy!

We'll leave you with this pic that we feel should grace the cover of Toddler GQ. Unbiased opinion... The boys made it in to our local paper again, with a short story about our visit to the Lawrence Arboretum. Here's the link. We hope you all have a wonderful early fall, and we'll check back in before Thanksgiving!

Happy birthday, Carson!

2007-09-12T13:16:00.000-07:00

Carson turned three today! For just over one month, there will be two three year-olds in the house. Wow! It was a very good birthday for our little man. He shares his birthday with KU, by the way. He turned three, and KU turned 141.

For Carson's two-year birthday party, he blew out one candle on a cup cake. (Keep in mind, we had been home for less than three weeks.) This time, he got three candles on a nice big cake, with homemade "brrrr-cold ice cream" which he and Conner helped Mummy make!

The boys' friend Chloe gave Carson a very cool indoor/outdoor tent.

And their grandparents gave Carson a puzzle filled with their favorite heavy machinery.

By the end of the party, which consisted of Mema, Grandpa, Gee-Gee and Grandma, the boys were ready to sit on the couch with Grandpa and read one of their cool new books. What a big day!

Conner has become quite the artist. Here, he displays "Rainbow, in Pastels on Concrete." If you look really hard, you can see the letter "A" he drew on the other side. He is transitioning from purely abstract images to some really well-drawn letters and shapes. Both boys are doing surprisingly well at blowing notes on the trumpet that Uncle Brad loaned to us. Such talent!

Here is the awesome Kras Connection. From left, Ben, Chris, Conner and Carson got to play together over the weekend. The Parracks were bravely willing to watch all four boys while Mummy and Daddy had a rare evening out. Well, a couple hours out. The boys played very well together, and are becoming great friends. They hugged each other before saying goodbye, with all four parents beaming.

We've been home a year!

2007-08-25T12:06:00.001-07:00

Wow. No way has it been 365 days since the picture below was taken of four very tired people getting off the plane at the Kansas City airport. What an amazing year it has been!

We're nearing the end of a very hot August, and have been surprised to find that the boys seem pretty impervious to the heat. It is so hard to find interesting things to keep them occupied all day in the house, so we are really looking forward to cooler weather! Conner is becoming a major bookworm, and asks for new books all the time. Carson has a more limited attention for books, and frequently asks for his new favorite, the big fire truck puzzle.

Cute picture of Conner, not so much of Carson. No, we haven't been brave enough to already take the boys to Disney World. These are little M.M ears that Mummy's friend Jana got for them while we were still in Russia. Very important to note that both boys' names fit the Mickey Mouse song: c-a-r-s-o-n...m-a-r-s-h!

Lucky Conner gets a ride on Grandpa's lawn mower!! The boys can't get enough of tractors, bulldozers, fire trucks, you name it. Last week, they got to ride a real, live choo choo train in Baldwin, KS. Loved it! That same day, they were introduced to a real drum set. You get two guesses whether they enjoyed that or not.

Here is Carson with a decent choke hold on his older brother. He is definitely not a submissive younger bro. Both boys seem to take turns being the leader and the follower. They also take turns being the enforcer of family rules. One will chastise the other for throwing something or standing on the couch. But they do seem to encourage each other to break those rules more often than they enforce them...

Kickin back on the lazy bear chairs, holding hands during a special private viewing of Elmo's World. We've been trying to get the boys into a two-mornings-a-week preschool, and Fall has begun without a spot opening up. We'll keep our fingers crossed that they can still get in. It feels like a long time before school starts for these guys, but it certainly isn't too early to get them started.

It's Gotcha Day!

2007-08-08T07:38:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! These are two Jayhawks with mohawks celebrating the one year anniversary of the day we became a family! On August 8th, 2006, Mummy and Daddy went through a harrowing court proceeding that concluded with the Russian government's blessing to bring us home to Kansas.

Here is a picture from the window of our Siberian hotel room the morning after Gotcha Day. If you look closely, you'll see a rainbow, which we decided meant it was more than the Russian government who was blessing our new family. Today is a day the four of us will celebrate the first year, and look back on the most amazing adventure of bringing Carson and Conner home.

These are some before & after pics of the boys. They kind of speak for themselves. We were so lucky to have been sent to an orphanage that was well funded. And you can see from the Kras picture above that this was no small village. We believe that the secrets to this success story were being well prepared and being very lucky. We may have been one of the last families to receive two young, healthy, unrelated children from Russia in one trip. We squeeked through the process just as major changes were sweeping through the international adoption scene.

This is a chart Daddy used for a presentation to his Rotary club. It doesn't do justice to the major changes in the international adoption process this year, and the shrinking numbers from the three primary countries. For several months this year, Russia shut down its intl adoptions completely. It has recently restarted, and its numbers for 2007 may be only half of those from 2006. It makes us that much more thankful that we brought home Conner and Carson when we did.

So, we are smiling and holding hands as we sing Happy Gotcha Day to each other. The first year of familyhood has been such a challenge. Couldn't have done it without supportive friends and family. The boys are still quite a handful, but our toughest days now are not as bad as our average days were a year ago. They are truly brothers now, we are truly their parents, and the bond continues to grow stronger by the day. It's Gotcha Day!

Summer dayz

2007-07-16T06:50:00.001-07:00

We're inching ever closer to the "Gotcha Day" anniversary of August 8. The boys have been home almost a year, which is really hard to believe. Things are going well with the little CNMs, and it is time for a pictoral update of our summer.

Daddy thinks he's pretty cool swinging the boys around like this, but he is also beginning to have back trouble for the first time in his life. Now that the little guys are over 30 lbs each, maybe we'll minimize the number of "helicopter" rides they get.

Happy July 4th! Our neighborhood sponsors a just-for-kids parade on the 4th, and the guys dutifully participated. They were a little leary of the whole thing, but got to stay in their trusty wagon all decked out in flags and ribbons. Here is the newspaper coverage. Mommy's back made it into the first pic.

Our little Siberians continue to love the water and seem to be oblivious to the heat. We visit neighbors' pools, go to the community pools, and just this past week, the boys got their own little pool in the back yard. Yup, they dig it.

The biggest thing that happened in July was a trip to the doctor. Carson had hernia surgery, and we made the difficult decision to combine that with getting both boys "snipped." Their Mema was kind enough to provide some surgical stuff for the boys to play with to minimize the angst of the big day. We got some great pictures of them playing doctor, and really think it helped make everything go as smooth as possible.

The boys went as far as pretending to perform surgery on their beloved bunny rabbits. Here is Dr. Carson administering the anesthetic. They also were given EKG stickers, so that it would be a little less scary getting them applied for real. Below you see Conner the day after surgery, showing off the spots where the stickers had once been.

We'll spare you the details of the surgery. It was traumatic for a couple days, but the recovery went as well as can be expected. As difficult as it was to make the final decision, we've gotten through the tough part and certainly would make the same decision again. The boys were real troopers and have even explained to us that it is now easier to go to the bathroom. :-)

We've had lots of early summer visitors, and have been enjoying the visits very much. Above, you see Don Juan Conner offering a flower to Caitlin Scanlon. Carson has taken the back seat in this exchange, which is kind of reminiscent of that famous old picture of the boy getting a kiss from one girl and a dirty look from the other! Conner is really becoming a ladies man, while Carson tries to win them over with those eyes.

While our garden is suffering from a bit of neglect, Mummy gets major props for keeping things above the level of embarrassing. Her boy-sized elephant ear plant is just one example of the summer foliage that is still doing ok, and intriguing the boys.

We hope your summer is going really well, and we send our love. The next post will probably come after we have celebrated the one year anniversary of Gotcha Day. A big thank you to everyone who has helped make this year so extraordinary for two sweet little orphans and their very, very lucky new parents.

Picture pages

2007-06-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Long time no blog. One problem with updating only monthly is that we have so many pictures we want to share! In the one above, the boys are sporting neckties their Mummy expertly created out of ribbon. Papa doesn't wear ties to work very often, but when he does, the boys want to wear theirs too.

Here we are at Mema and Grandpa's house on Mummy's birthday. The boys sang happy birthday to her and baked a pretend cake for her (blew out the pretend candles for her too). Carson and Conner did quite well with the awesome superhero kites they got from Aunt Meg and Cousin Geoff. The wind was low, so they had to run pretty hard. Gooood way to tire out little boys!

Leavenworth is the historic home of one of the world's first and largest carousel manufactures. The boys spent a day with Grandma and visted the CW Parker Museum. This carousel goes really fast, and they were a bit apprehensive at first, but ended up really loving it.

The aforementioned Cousin Geoff visited us all the way from New York with his mom, Aunt Meg. We had an absolute blast during their visit, and learned that the NY Marshes think Conner looks like a mini Geoff. So here they are, posing for a Mini Me shot. Conner is wearing Geoff's bling and a shirt with Spiderman, who is Geoff's favorite superhero. If you're counting, that's two of the first four pictures that highlight Spidey.

The boys are still happy eating just about anything. We are letting them do their own thing as much as possible. They are pretty proud of themselves as they wolf down big ole bites of grilled cheese. We still haven't found anything they won't eat, although in the last week or two, they've been less excited about tuna fish and watermelon. Go figure...

The boys were helping Mummy fold the laundry one day, and Carson decided he wanted to see how well Papa's socks fit. They make us laugh every morning when they want to fold their bedsheet and blanket. They're pretty good at it!

Well, the time out chair never collects dust. Here they are, having both gotten in trouble and sharing the chair. They do their best to be cute once they're in the chair, in hopes of minimizing the time spent sitting. Instead, their mean Daddy takes pictures of them and makes them stay just as long as they would have without the cute antics.

Auntie Jill brought the coolest toy ever. An automatic bubble blower! This thing can really crank out the bubbles at about ten per second. Both boys absolutely love it. We're still enjoying the warm weather and hoping the oppresively hot weather holds off for a while longer. Enjoy your summer, and come by to see us if you can!

Hot dogs and broccoli

2007-05-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

Hello from Lawrence, and happy unofficial beginning of summer to you all. We watch in anticipation while the city prepares to open the big community swimming pool just two blocks from our house. Until now, the boys have only known it as "the doggie bath," because they saw it on the last day of the season, when the city allowed pet owners to bring their dogs for a swim.

April's cold spell is a distant memory, and we've enjoyed some wonderful outdoor activities this month. The above picture shows the Kras Connection: Conner and Carson with their buddies Ben and Chris. We had a wonderful early evening with the Parrack family this month. It is consistently amazing to think that these four guys were in a Siberian orphanage together not so long ago. We look forward to many Kras Connections in the years to come.

It's true. They seem to enjoy the box more than the gift held within. Especially when the box is big enough to play house in. This box served for a couple weeks as the primary source of front yard entertainment. To be fair, there was no gift held within this box. A neighbor was having furnature delivered, and offered Conner and Carson the empty box. Very thankful boys. We benefit from a wonderful neighborhood, which has embraced these little guys and made walks around the block a different adventure every time.

Who says our house is too small for big toys? (Mummy and Daddy do, actually.) But here you see the boys showing their delight with a big fire truck puzzle that Consty gave them. We have a fire station a few blocks from us, so the boys hear the sirens regularly and always perk up in hopes they might see a truck. Earlier this month, the city sponsored a big truck day, where families were allowed to climb into fire trucks, police cars, dump trucks, tractors, trash trucks, etc. The boys were in absolute heaven.

Yep, we've discovered stickers. When the boys do something especially good, they get to add a sticker to their sticker book. The grinny guy pictured above had a very big day not long ago, when he graduated to big boy pants and a big boy bed. We still have to diligently watch the clock and encourage him to "pee pee like Papa" every 30 to 60 minutes. (too much information?) But he has had minimal accidents. The big boy bed...not so good. His older brother has spoiled us by showing no interest in leaving his bed once he's in it. Carson likes leaving his quite a bit. The day he chose to play with the bedroom fan during naptime was the day the big boy bed went bye bye and he's back in the crib for now.

Here's the guy that never leaves his bed, always tells us when he needs to go to the potty, and tattles on his brother when rules are broken. That's not to say he is 100% angel. Conner, having spent almost 3 years in the orphanage, does not seem to yet be completely comfortable in his new environment. He is a sweet, smart little dude. But he also has an exceptional memory and lots of nervous tendencies. We have learned some methods to help him understand he's here to stay, and that he can feel safe with us. We hope that, as we near our one year anniversary, he will continue to gain confidence in us and become less nervous.

Wow, we've made it all the way to the last picture and still haven't explained the title of this entry! Above, you see the boys having their morning milk and holding hands. That'll melt your heart. Mealtimes continue to be very pleasant, and we keep thinking that will change abruptly one day. Ok, we haven't totally transitioned away from feeding them...so that contributes a great deal to the pleasantness. But they do get to feed themselves frequently and seem to be perfectly happy eating whatever we offer. To Daddy's amazement, last week we had to say something to the boys that might never have been said in the history of parenthood:

"Boys, you have to eat more hot dog before you can have another piece of broccoli."

One year ago today! (Part three)

2007-04-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

This entry celebrates two big anniversaries. One year ago today, we met Andrey and Ilya for the very first time. And eight months ago this week, we brought them home to Kansas. We'll try to chronicle our first whirlwind trip to meet the boys and let you know how they're doing now that we've been home eight months.

"They tell me you're my new Mom."

After a harrowing two-day travel schedule, we got to Krasnoyarsk on 4-27-06. We were whisked away to the Ministry of Education to get permission to meet the boys. Then, with a bit of trepidation, we went to meet the boys. They were in two seperate buildings, which makes us pretty sure they had never met each other. We first met Carson, and it wasn't a happy introduction. We scared the heck out of him, and he bawled for 15 minutes or so. He finally let Mama hold him, but was warry of both of us the whole time. The journal entry documents, "Sweet kid, a little scared, quiet but endearing."

"They dressed me all fancy just to meet you."

Conner was another story all together. We'll never forget sitting in the tiny lobby when he came in from outside all bundled up in a fake-fur winter coat (it was probably 60 degrees outside). He gave us a big smile and a giggle when we pretended to tickle him. When they took us to the visitation room, he came in and dutifully gave Mama a hug, and commenced to playing with ever toy in the room. Wore us out! The journal documents, "Big smile, funny outfit, ACTIVE!, loved chasing bubbles...put away every toy when asked to do so."

Another moment we'll never forget was being told by the orphanage physician that Conner had been diagnosed with bronchitis nineteen times, and hospitalized five of those times. Holy cow! That wasn't in the two-page medical history they sent us. How could they leave that out? Was he ok? Sure was an active kid for being so sick. We decided, with western medicine, he would be ok. We were right. Look at them now!

Our first trip to Krasnoyarsk was a whirlwind. Barely enough time to process everything. And so much was yet to come! We were wisely told to tour Moscow while we were there, and had a wonderful time with Phillip, our private tour guide. We went home very motivated to get back asap to bring the boys home. Looking back, it was miraculous that we got through the process during such turmoil. We feel that we may possibly be one of the very last people to bring home two unrelated toddler boys from Russia.

Our most sincere thoughts go out to the families who are waiting for news of reacreditation. It can't be possible that Russia will forever close its borders to parents willing to give a better life to these children.

One year ago today! (Part two)

2007-04-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

We have reached the one-year anniversary of the most incredible day of our adoption process, and perhaps of our lives. In our last entry, we left you at the point of a very traumatic decision that we made on April 10, 2006. We decided we were not prepared to adopt a child with severe developmental challenges, so we declined a referral for two boys, one of whom was a healthy boy named Ilya. We were told that it could be nine to twelve months before we received a second referral, and that Russia was not allowing many/any two child referrals anymore.

The decision was heartbreaking enough, but to be told we may well wait for a year only to get a referral for a single child...that made it almost impossible to say no to Ilya. But we stuck to our guns and decided to wait for as long as it took to get our two little boys.

On April 11, 2006, less than 24 hours after we said goodbye to two sweet boys, our agency called again. We were sure they were just calling to check up on us; see if we were ok. No, it was for what they called a "replacement referral." What?! Surely you don't mean... One of us (Rochelle) screamed with joy through the phone. The other (Curtis) just didn't get it. They were calling to say another boy had been identified for us, and was being offered along with Ilya!

Andrey Victorovich Milaskin was 20 months old, and located in the same orphanage as Ilya, but in a different building. We worked feverishly fast to get his medical history reviewed, and learned he was a healthy little boy. Within hours, we formally accepted the referral and two days later we had our itinerary for the first of two trips to Russia. In between that time, we learned that our friends, the Parracks, who were in Krasnoyarsk at the time, were bringing home two boys from not only the same orphanage, not only the same building, but the same 15-child playgroup! They sent us this picture of Andrey they took while visiting their boys.

Victorovich, as you might guess, means victory. Milashkin means sweet. Sweet victory is a pretty good way to describe the events of April 11, 2006. We were finally going to bring home two little Siberian boys and it felt like a miracle. Now, it was also a miracle that we got through the whole process, because we faced some extreme hurdles and obstacles from April 12th until we brought the boys home four months later. Maybe we'll continue posting one year anniversary entries to give further snapshots of this amazing adventure.

We'll promise some new photos along the way too. The boys are doing very well, despite a frustrating cold spell that has kept us indoors way too much. Not fair that in our first seven months of being a family, we've had an unusually cold winter plus a spring cold spell.

One year ago today!

2007-03-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

What an indescribable year it has been. March 23 is our wedding anniversary. It has been six years since we were married, and exactly one year since we got "The Call." Once again, we'd like to steal an idea from the Parracks and try to provide some perspective on March 23, 2006.

Amidst all kinds of confusion about whether Russia would reaccredit our agency, and whether they would discontinue the practice of allowing two-children adoptions, we waited impatiently for the call. It had been well over a year of preparation, including psychological exams, FBI checks, fingerprintings, and three-ring binder after three ring binder of documents that we had to have notarized, then have the notaries...notarized.

At 2 p.m., we were both at work when our agency conference called us. We explained that it was our anniversary, at which point our sponsor said she had a very significant anniversary gift for us. Two little boys! It was the kind of moment so emotional, it will be a vivid memory for the rest of our lives.

After we hung up the phone, we raced to each other's sides to view the emailed pictures together. Sure enough, two very sweet little boys. One was named Ilya Alexandrovich Solomatov. He was a strapping little two year-old dude in a funny baby-blue sailor suit.

He looked like he was a no-nonsense kind of guy. "You want me to sit in this chair and look at the camera? Da. You want me to stand in front of these blocks and look at the camera? Da. You want me to do all this in a baby blue jump suit with pink girly shoes on? Da." In a second set of pictures, he was showing off his musical abilities and his engineering know-how. We were told he had a bit of a black eye from an accident earlier in the week.

Without making this an extraordinarily long entry, it is impossible to recount the full details of the week that followed. We fell in love with both boys, only to learn that one of the two was terribly ill. We made the heart-breaking decision to decline the referral, which meant saying no to both boys and facing the very real possibility that our next referral would not come for nine to twelve months, and might only be for one boy, not two.

After a year and a half of very hard work, it was devastating to be so close to our dream of a family of four, and have it slip away. There was such uncertainty surrounding the whole process, and we really wondered if our family would ever become a reality. We were caught in the middle of sweeping changes in the Russian adoption system. There had been a very public case of an American family abusing their adopted child to death, and Russia was committed to weeding out any potentially bad adoptive parents. We had already been put under the microscope, so how would we be treated now that we declined a referral?

It was not until April 10th, 2006 that we made our final decision. That day and the next were the most incredible moments of our long adoption adventure. Chapter two of this story will appear on the one year anniversary of April 11, 2006.

Happy belated Valentines Day

2007-02-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

For years, we have sent Valentines Cards to everyone instead of Christmas cards. It's our way of minimizing the craziness of the season, and sending friends and family something during a time that they don't get a hundred cards from everyone else. Well...Valentines Day has come and gone, and we'll have to say that the baby announcements serve as our annual letter this time. (if you didn't get one, let us know, we've got extras!!!)

But the boys went around the neighborhood with their Mummy delivering little hand-colored Valentines, and family members got them as well. Conner got really good at wishing people "Happy Wahlintines Day." We got our own special Valentines Day treat from our local paper. The picture you see above made it on to the front page! Here's a link.

Well, we are one week away from our 6 month anniversary of being home! Some days, we think it can't already have been 6 months. Other days, we think how can it only have been 6 months? The boys are really bonding with us now, and making the true transition from ex-orphans to little nuclear family members. We feel like Conner is making that transition a little more slowly than Carson, and that may have everything to do with the extra year he spent at the orphanage. The little guy amazes us every day with his exceptional memory, and we wonder if he's holding on to some of the orphanage memories and habits. But one of the many things that will help him through is the Kras Connection, our little support group in K.C.

Here are the four little guys just after a great play date in the indoor pool. All four had a great time, and we can't wait for the day the outdoor pool opens, which is two blocks from our house. if there is anything the boys like better than shoveling snow, it is swimming! By the way, its not very fair of mother nature to have given Kansas a 37-day cold streak this year. It's been a struggle keeping the boys occupied when we're couped up in the house!!

"Check us out! We're eating by ourselves! We've been able to since the first day we got back, but Mummy and Daddy say it encourages attachment when they feed us. We think they just like not having to clean up after us...

"Check us out! We're piano prodigies! Daddy was pleased to find that we're willing to hit the keys softly and not pound. In fact, when one of us plays too rambunctiously, the other covers his ears and says, 'too loud!'"

Oh, yeah. Go Jayhawks! Mema and Grandpa gave us these cool KU beads after they went to the basketball game. They went last week, and then watched us on Saturday so Mummy and Daddy could go. Only the third time since we've been back that they did something together without us. We're going to encourage them to do that a little more. The game they went to, KU won by 50 points!

Snow shovels and swim suits

2007-01-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

Hello from the frozen tundra of Lawrence. We've had a good start to 2007, with the obligatory highs and lows. The boys seem to be figuring new things out every day, and sometimes we think they may be getting almost too comfortable, because they have begun testing their boundaries and ignoring some of the previously-accepted rules of the house! We know what you're saying: "sounds like your average household with two toddler boys!" Well...We don't feel like your average household yet, but we're getting there. :-)

Four inches of snow over the weekend gave us the opportunity to test our little Siberians' abilities and agilities. They loved it. Very pleased to report that their favorite activity was helping Papa shovel the sidewalks! We did some sledding, some snowman construction, and lots and lots of shoveling. We will go a long way in endearing ourselves to the neighbors if the boys continue to shovel their sidewalks like they did this weekend.

Now, parental instinct is yet another thing that will have to come with time. Good evidence of that is the time it took the boys to thaw out after Papa kept them outside too long. They didn't complain a bit while we were outside, but were not happy once we came inside and their fingers, toes and noses were cold. You can tell by the above picture that Conner thawed out more quickly than Carson. It may have something to do with his favorite TV buddy, Elmo. He likes the muppet so much that any time Elmo is not actually on screen during one of his videos, he asks for him. "Elmo all gone??"

Ah, the swimming pool. Since we returned home from Krasnoyarsk, the boys have had very limited access to pools. They enjoyed their Aunt Heather's toddler pool and John & Consty's pool (both bigger than a baby pool but smaller than your average backyard variety) So we thought we'd try out the Lawrence Indoor Aquatic Center. They took to it like little Russian fishies. There is a wonderful zero-entry family section with a dragon slide, a floating hippo, and lots of fun little showering devices. Above, Conner shows his delight while we play under what he called "the raining." Below are two more pics of general pool enjoyment:

While we're on the subject of water sports, we broke out the camera for some shots of Conner's cool mohawk during bathtime. We'll have to share more in the future of their favorite bathtime activity, which is suctioning the little toy ducks to various parts of their face and limbs. We almost got a shot of Carson using them as ear rings, but it didn't really come out. Lucky for him. These will be fun to show future girlfriends!

Our first Christmas together

2006-12-30T12:12:00.000-08:00

A very merry Christmas and happy New Year, everyone! The Marsh clan has had an exciting week. Not only did we celebrate Christmas on the 25th, but our 4-month anniversary of being home as well. Thought you might like some pics and a little update. The boys did extremely well for their first Christmas. Six out of the last seven days have been spent driving to friends and relatives houses, and the boys got pretty worn out. So for the last few days, we've been taking it easy and kind of hibernating at home.

Santa hit the nail on the head when he gave the boys these working bulldozers. Way to go, Santa! The boys can't get enough of bulldozers, trains, cars, really anything big and mechanical! Mema and Grandpa gave them bulldozers too, and they love them. Here's a tip: getting two of everything discourages fighting over toys! Just hope one of them doesn't break...

Here are two little alligators having their evening milk. The Stewarts were kind enough to send us two alligator bath towels with the boys' names embroidered on them. They love them, and wear them every night before bed. Don't tell them, but sometimes Daddy puts the wrong alligator on the wrong kid. Maybe that's why we keep calling them by the wrong name! Connerson...uh, Carsner..

Sure, this doesn't look like a burrito, but that's what it is! Mummy's brother's family sent them some cool cars and a mat with a town on one side and a checkered flag on the other. When the boys want a break from driving the cars around town, they pretend their feet are cold and wrap themselves up in the burrito (pronounced "booyeetow")

Grandma gave them this cool and colorful toy that they enjoy exploring. They've learned their colors and like pointing out which things are yellow (bulldozer yellow), red (fire truck red), and blue (trash truck blue!). Amazingly, they have found a way to be a bit competitive with this toy. If you click on the picture, you'll see that the green wire is the tallest, and has the most rollercoaster-like action. The boys get lessons in sharing when they both decide the green wire is the one they want to play with.

Ah, this one might be what Mummy was most looking forward to. Our only tv is in a room that the boys aren't yet privy to, so Mema and Grandpa got the boys a tv/dvd player that goes in the living room. We chose not to hook it up to our cable, so the boys watch only children's videos. Props to Aunt Heather, who gave them a Veggie Tales dvd with "Oh, where is my hairbrush?" which is Mummy and Daddy's favorite!

Well, for all the wonderful gifts the boys received, wouldn't you know they had the most fun with some Jayhawk stickers?! Let's end the Christmas blog with a few pics of the boys being stickerheads. Again, they love Jayhawks, and Papa swears that they came from Siberia with this love. Has nothing to do with anything he has taught them...

An early Christmas present

2006-12-19T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here's something we've been anxious to post since we returned! Way back in the August 27th entry, we mentioned that the FIFA world cup for women was in Moscow, and that several soccer teams stayed in our hotel. The boys met a large contingent of the Nigerian and Chinese women's national soccer team and won their hearts!

One of the most special connections was with Ngozi Onwuka, a Nigerian journalist covering the games. She was extraordinarily sweet to the boys, and they flirted with her every time we passed her group in the lobby. We've been emailing back and forth with her since our return, and she just sent us this awesome picture:

It is a scan of a negative, so you might want to click on it to see a larger version. In the forefront is the captain of the Nigerian team, and Ngozi is hiding behind Carson. Our camera was on the fritz, so this is the only visual evidence we have of that amazing day. We were basically cooling our heels in the hotel, afraid to explore much of the city with two little orphans in tow. So these very sweet women made our day much more pleasant.

Can't wait to share this with the boys when they are old enough to understand: not only did you come from an orphanage half way around the world, but before we brought you home, you chilled in the Moscow Marriott with the Nigerian and Chinese national women's soccer teams!

The most heartfelt wishes of a happy and safe holiday season for you all. We'll let you know how our exciting, crazy first Christmas goes! Here's a quick shout out to our Kras Connection, the Parracks, who this week celebrated their one year anniversary of "The Call." For details, check out http://www.parrackfamily.blogspot.com/.

Happy early holidays!

2006-12-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

Is it ok to take a picture of a picture and put it on the internet? Who knows. Did it anyway. This was actually taken just over a week after we came home from Russia. The boys have that very stoic look that says, " I don't understand what you are saying, or why you are pointing that thing at me."

Fast forward to a more recent photo session. The Marsh side of the family decided to try and get all five cousins together for a Christmas picture. It actually worked! Above, we have the CNM boys showing off their sweaters and giving their usual look when the camera comes out. Conner has started smiling on command, while Carson at least half the time gives the deer in the headlights look. :-) At least he broke out the smile for us when all the cousins were together!

Two boys and three girls. Conner, Carson, Kyleigh, Alex(andria) and Casey. What a cute group! In the last few months, we took quite a jump from two cousins to five. It will be a busy Christmas. Kyleigh is the eldest, at eight years, Casey is almost three, and Alex is just a few weeks old! In case you forgot, Conner turned three on Oct 26 and Carson turned two on Sept 12.

Recently, the boys have started asking to be cradled like babies. They've met a few newborns, and have been very sweet to them. "Conner, baby...Carson baby..." It has been very nice to play baby with them, because they look into our eyes and let us really snuggle. The picture above is a rare moment when they both wanted to be babies together. The Curious George books, by the way, are among their favorites. They both have monkey dolls that look a lot like George. Carson has started calling his, "Mee mee," which we think is pretty darn cute.

Just another quick leaf pile picture. We had such a great, warm Thanksgiving weekend that most of it was spent outside. The boys played like Energizer bunnies in the leaf piles, and were even willing to bring individual leaves from other parts of the yard into the pile. Good thing we took care of the yard during the weekend, because it got cold real fast!

The first weekend of December, and it was cold! Here are the boys all bundled up to go see the Old Fashioned Christmas parade. We are so lucky to be within walking distance of lots of cool stuff, including downtown Lawrence. The parade is primarily horse-drawn carriages, sleighs and horseback riders. The boys totally loved it. "Another horsey, another horsey?...Big horsey!...Little horsey!" That night, the whole family went to a restaurant (only the second time) to celebrate the seven-year anniversary of Mommy and Daddy's first kiss. :-)

2006-11-16T14:35:00.000-08:00

Hello, friends and family. Carson and Conner wanted to say a quick hello as we approach the '06 holiday season. We learned from their physician that both boys grew a half inch the last two months, which we figure must have something to do with their very, very healthy appetites!

A bit of hair gel, and now I look like the kid on Jerry MacGuire!

Rare footage of the boys holding hands. And proof that they're still putting toys back in the toy box instead of leaving everything on the floor...

This was a special day for us. Our friends the Parracks met us half way between Lawrence and Kansas City for an official gathering of the "Kras Connection." (For those of you new to the blog, these two boys came from the same orphanage system as Carson and Conner.) We found a great playground in DeSoto with age-appropriate equipment including this four-seater teeter totter. From left to right, Ben, Carson, Chris and Conner. (click on the picture for a closer look) These four boys are inextricably linked by the story of their first two years in Siberia. We hope the Kras Connection can serve as an eight-person support group for many, many years.

Daddy couldn't quite catch this prize winner without messing up the focus. This is a picture of a small but important component of our evening ritual. Let's take a second to describe the routine:

6:00 p.m. is dinnertime. A very happy time for the boys.
6:30 p.m. is bath time. Favorite toys: little plastic Jayhawk cups.
7:00 p.m. is story time. A sippy cup full of milk and Curious George.
7:20 p.m. is toothbrushing and final potty time.

Carson is still in diapers, so when he finishes with toothbrushing, he leaves the bathroom to get Conner’s bedtime monkey and patiently waits for his older brother. This is when we got the above picture of him. Conner gets his monkey, says “thank you Carson,” and all four of us head upstairs to bed singing Twinkle, Twinkle.

Then Mommy and Daddy zone out on the couch for the rest of the night!

Happy Halloween!

2006-10-31T08:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween to you all, and happy birthday to Conner, and happy two-month anniversary for the Marsh family. A big week! Sorry to report that we've decided to delay the boys' first Halloween experience for a year. We're convinced they won't really understand the whole thing, and might even get unduly scared by some of the things going on. Frankly, we haven't given them any candy yet and are a bit afraid of making Halloween their first experience...

"Krasnoyarsk is that way! Come on, horsey, can't you move any faster?!"

Language is coming along nicely for both boys. We had really hoped that bringing home two at once would mean they could help each other with the transition. It feels like they are certainly doing that. Carson is learning lots of words from his older brother. For several weeks, Conner has impressed people with his favorite full sentence, "I like Jayhawk basketball!" That required no coaching from his father...

We are so happy to report that a corner has been turned in the area of bedtime. For the last two months, Carson would bawl for quite a while after we put the boys down. Conner had become content with simply telling us goodnight without the crying. The turning point came one night when Conner decided to take matters into his own hands. Obviously tired of the bawling, he started telling his brother, "Papa all gone! Mama all gone!" As Carson's crying got louder, so did Conner's replies. Carson finally accepted his brother's logic and quieted down. Since that night, we've had less and less crying, and now he says a quiet goodnight to us just like his older brother, and commences to falling asleep.

What a beautiful weekend it was in our part of the country last week. Temps in the 70's and a great big pile of leaves in our yard. Please understand that these are the boys who were not even comfortable sitting in the grass two months ago. It was so great to see them doing all sorts of gymnastics in the leaf pile. And then helping their parents rake them back up!! They are starting to warm up to some of the sweet neighborhood dogs too. They saw lots of them over the weekend, and even offered a few of them some tenuous kisses.

Squirrels are all over our neighborhood, and the boys love them. Here is Carson doing his impression of one. They both ask to be lifted into a tree to pretend. Our adoption agency is soliciting pictures for their 2007 calendar, so we submitted the two above along with several shots of both boys from our past entries. The Parracks are doing the same, and we are just now thinking how fun it would have been to try and get a picture of all four of the boys who represent the Kansas City Kras Connection (KCKC). We'll be sure to let friends and family know if we or the Parracks submit a winning pic.

"This is the biggest birthday cake I've ever seen!"

Conner's 3rd b-day was a quiet, happy event. Both boys got to wolf down mini-cupcakes and Conner blew out one ceremonial candle. We are still feeding the boys every meal, so it was fun to watch how carefully they ate their cupcakes. They really are taking to good behavior. Carson especially is saying please and thank you, even unsolicited at times. Both boys are learning to say excuse me when they want to pass someone in our little rooms. But they haven't mastered the "s" sound, so it sounds like, "Coo-Bee." They have also started saying Bless You after someone in the house sneezes. But on occasion, they test their new parents and have to sit in time out...

Contrary to what is going on in the scene above, the Time Out Chair is working miraculously well. The moment either boy begins to whine about something, they are set in the chair. And the moment they stop whining, the parent who set them there comes back and quietly explains why they were placed there. They are asked to say, "sorry Mama," or, "sorry Papa," and after a quick hug, time out is over. This is usually the extent of it unless a longer stay is necessary for a more serious offense such as hitting a brother or throwing a toy. On occasion, one of the boys will point to the chair when his brother begins to whine, or even take his brother's hand and lead him to the chair himself!

The four of us are growing closer every day. There are still some major struggles and lots of times that we don't know if we're doing everything we can to build a normal, healthy family. Heartfelt thanks go out to our friends and family who have been so supportive and patient with us as we learn how to make this crazy, exciting transition.

Siberian Tigers

2006-10-19T07:08:00.000-07:00

Hello from the Marsh family! We've been mildly scolded for not updating the blog for a while. We didn't really think about the purpose of the blog once the Siberian adventure was complete, but if there are still those of you out there that would like to hear how things are going, we'll be glad to keep you posted. There are three important dates approaching. Next week, Conner turns three! One day before his birthday marks our two month anniversary of bringing them home. And a week after that is Halloween...

Now there's a coat with a good, solid, boy color! No pink in sight.

That is a fine looking coat, and nothing girly about it. Happy early birthday, Conner! Carson's b-day was just over a month ago, and it was a quiet, small celebration. Conner has decided to take his younger brother's lead and invite just his parents and his bro to his 3rd b-day party. We're pretty sure they still wouldn't grasp the concept of a big b-day party, so we explain the gifts and who sent them, and show them the thank yous we write for them in hopes they'll get the picture soon.

How cool would it be to dress them up as Siberian Tigers for Halloween? How confused would they be to see all the people in wild costumes? And how wired would they be if their first real experience with candy was an overflowing bad of Halloween treasures? Yeah, we haven't decided yet what their first October 31st will look like. We've joked about running to a half-dozen neighbors and giving them bananas to offer the boys at the door.

Carson loves wearing Papa's shoes. But rarely in the living room...

If you visit the Marsh home, you'll find that shoes are a big part of the household culture. We decided to keep all the shoes by the front door, and the boys have taken that pretty seriously. When they know it is time to go outside, they prance around saying, "shoes! shoes!" They'll bring their parents' shoes to them, and sit on the first step and put theirs on--with varying degrees of success. If you walk into the house with your shoes on (even though adults are allowed to do so), the boys will patiently explain that you need to remove them and put them by the door.

They are sleeping through the night, and still eating really well. They have begun offering hugs and kisses to their new parents, which melts our hearts. They play nicely with toys and books during the day, and are starting to embrace their new routines. We still have problems here and there, but it is starting to be more the kinds of problems that come with parenting a couple of two year olds rather than the problems that come with learning how to become a family of four.

Kissing the flash cards? "Nice doggie...awww, nice doggie."

One of the ways the boys have been learning their words is playing with flash cards after each meal. This has brought some surprising benefits. Some of the cards are of animals. Once they identify a cat or a dog, they get to pet the card. That has led to the boys kissing the card. They are pictured above, with Carson offering the doggie card to Conner for a kiss. Pretty darn cute! We're hoping this might help to quell their fear of dogs.

Both boys are doing so well in their transition from Russian orphans to Kansas brothers. Their language skills are growing stronger every day. They are learning to count and can identify every machine from bulldozer to fire truck. Conner can even say, "I like Jayhawk basketball!" Making Papa proud. As the whole family walks the steps for bedtime, we all sing Twinkle Twinkle. Carson pretty much sticks to "Cawcaw Cawcaw," but sings right along with us. You should hear them do the Rock Chalk chant!

What's in a name

2006-09-28T09:15:00.000-07:00

The Marsh family has officially begun month 2! They keep telling us that once you've gotten through the first two months, things really start to click. The boys continue to adjust well to their new lives. We are still dealing with a few minor health issues and one major one: we think they may have cracked their mother's rib cage!! Since we returned, it has hurt pretty bad, and the boys seem to have some kind of radar in their little elbows that finds her sternum every time they get picked up. Ouch! We hope the doctors provide a miracle cure since Daddy has returned to work full time this week.

Thought it would be fun to share with everyone the story of the boys' names. You see, Daddy is actually the fourth Curtis Marsh. So, how do we incorporate four generations of family history and not make one of the boys feel left out? The plan began to materialize when we looked over all of the wonderful family heirlooms that have been passed to us with the initials, C-N-M. How about giving both boys the initials so they can equally feel a part of the family history?

Once the decision was made to create two CNM boys, we also wanted to give them some kind of lasting connection to their Russian roots. Lots of adoptive families keep their children's Russian first name as their new middle names. We weren't lucky enough to get two boys with Russian names that began with "N," so we decided to search for new Russian "N" names. Well, Nikolai was easy. It is a well-known Russian name, and one we liked very much. But even the Russians we asked couldn't come up with another! We did hear about Nikita, which is used for both men and women in Russian (like Nikita Khrushchev), but really seems to be only for women here in the U.S. We turned to the internet for common Russian names. http://www.doukhobor.org/Russian-Masculine-Names.htm

Imagine our amazement when the original CNM middle name appeared on the list!! The name “Naum” has been in the Marsh family for five generations, and somehow it was lost on us that it had Russian roots. How cool is that? So we had found our two Russian middle names, and even got to use an existing family name for one of them.

Now, it was easier to find two American names that we liked beginning with "C." Carson and Conner were at the top of both our lists. One day, we thought it would be nice to learn what each name meant. Amazement once again! We discovered that the origin of the name Carson is son of carr, and carr in old english is "marsh!" http://www.babynamenetwork.com/

So things really started fitting in to place. We could give one boy the first name that turns out to mean son of Marsh, and the other boy would get the middle name that is a family name with Russian roots. So, that's how we got Carson Nikolai and Conner Naum.

2006-09-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Hi from the Marsh family! Things are getting better each day, and some of the struggles that made the first days so difficult are becoming distant memories. Yes, there are still a lot of whimpers and whines, but we actually got photo proof of the boys holding hands and looking angelic...

The boys are still eating everything we put in front of them. Here they are staring at the kitchen waiting for Mummy to bring out the vittles. We've learned to minimize the whining by preparing all the food that we can before the boys know it is time to eat. Conner entertains us each morning by proclaiming, "I like bananas!"

We are pleasantly surprised at some of the things the boys are not messing with in the house. The picture above shows the cat's food just to the right of their favorite pre-meal hangout. The first picture shows the antique gas fireplace and the indoor fishpond in the living room. These are all things we hope they continue to ignore!

Carson's first American birthday! He decided to invite only Conner and his parents to the party. Here he is licking the icing off his plate. The boys haven't had much supersuger in their diet, so they got a treat of a small cupcake with icing and sprinkles. The cupcakes were finger-licking good, so we were uncharacteristically messy. Loved it!

The boys are so grateful to friends and family for the fantastic gifts they've received since coming home. Here, Conner is sporting a custom made towel sent by Mandy Mancini, a long time friend from the Marsh's lake house. They use them at night when we do our new ritual of bath, book and bed. With the new ritual in place, the boys have been going to sleep at 8 p.m. and waking at around 7 a.m. with minimal or no late night interuptions.

The boys got dressed up last week to get a family portrait done. Believe us, we would not have attempted a family portrait so soon after returning home with the boys, but the church is doing pictures for their directory, so last week was it. The boys did quite well, but we still have to teach them to smile before the flash goes off, rather than after...

So, we're starting our fourth week home, and starting to get into the groove. The boys still take 120% of our energy, but they are beginning to enjoy their new parents and their new surroundings. All four of us are learning how to communicate with each other, and learning how to teach and respect boundries. We watched some of the video we took in Krasnoyarsk, and it is starting to feel like a long, long time ago. We hope it feels that way for the boys too!

A quick look back

2006-09-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

The new Marsh family has survived the first two weeks, and today we celebrate Carson's birthday! Now we officially have two two-year olds. Holy cow... We also have recovered some pictures from the broken camera, thanks to Grandpa Bailey. Thought it would be nice to take a quick look back at some things we almost didn't get to show you. (and some pics from Grandpa)

Day one at home. This is breakfast on Aug 26. The boys are bewildered, just like their new parents. Mealtime has been a relatively peaceful time of the day for us, as long as we have the food ready for them before they discover it is mealtime!

Here is the crew that met us at the airport. It is a nice shot of both grandmothers meeting the boys, and the Parrack boys in the foreground. They are our Kras Connection! The Parracks were just highlighted in a news story about the new clinic in Kansas City that specializes in international adoptions. Carson and Conner had an appointment there yesterday and got a clean bill of health, with the exception of a parasite that Carson brought home from the orphanage, and some possible asthma issues we need to explore with Conner.

We'll resist the temptation of showing too many pictures of the hotel room, but can't help showing off the potty. Conner is great about telling us when he needs to go, and we wonder how much of that had to do with this classy KU potty he used while we were in Russia.

We are beginning week three as a family of four. It has been a tough two weeks, but we are seeing some marked improvement in the way the boys treat us and vice versa. We are beginning to really communicate and our schedules are becoming better set. We have been pretty selfish with our time to this point. Just hoping to instill upon these little guys a strong sense of family and help them truly understand what it means to have parents. All the while, trying to figure out what it means to BE parents!

Hangin in there

2006-09-01T12:04:00.000-07:00

We have survived the first week of being home! The boys are doing exceptionally well, although they are draining the life out of their new parents... We have decided that the 10 day waiting period would be better served after coming home instead of before. That way, both the parents and the children could recover from the travel separately and then have a better time together as a new family.

These pictures were taken at a great park that is two blocks from our home. It is right next to the big Lawrence outdoor pool, which sadly closes after this weekend, so we are resisting the temptation to take the boys there. Especially Conner, who loves water so much that he'll walk into the bathroom at random times of the day, strip naked and ask for a bath!

The CNM boys survived their first trip to the doctor. They were given four immunizations and had a significant amount of blood taken for tests. Yuck! It was heartbreaking to hold them down for all those needles. But they made it through, and were given high marks from the doctor for everything except for Conner's size. He is a little bugger, but we were reminded that it doesn't mean he'll stay that way. He is so food-focused, that we can't see him staying small for long!

As evidenced below, the boys are getting along well together. They are bonding so well to us and each other that we have great confidence they'll not suffer some of the attachment issues we've heard are common for orphans. Today, they were goofing around and gave each other four or five spontaneous hugs. It was awesome.

Now, Mom and Dad have had a rough week, for sure. There are days that we ask ourselves what we were thinking. We know that all parents ask themselves this question on occasion, but we would argue that few parents get such a whacked out learning curve. We feel like we skipped Parenthood 101, went straight to the graduate level courses, and didn't fulfill any of the prerequisite courses in between.

We've gotten lots of support from friends and family, and we have needed every bit of it. We can't hear enough that as soon as we've discovered the right daily schedule, and as soon as the boys understand the rules, things will get better and better. For now, it is just about all we can do to make it through each day and keep the memories of the daily adorable moments like the spontaneous hugs, Conner helping clean up the whole house, Carson realizing that getting his diaper changed isn't a horrible thing (for him), and many others.

The day we thought would never come

2006-08-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

We have felt every emotion on the spectrum. From elation to frustration, from glee to terror. What an incredible ordeal it has been getting these two boys home!! But we made it. We both ask ourselves, "who exactly were those two people that just got through that?" Surely not us. We would not have been able to go 27 hours without any sleep while navigating three airports, two shuttles, two customs offices and an immigration office that was so full they wouldn't guarantee us making our flight three hours later. Not to mention the flights. Really. Let's not mention the flights.

We got off the plane in Kansas City to a group of well wishers from both sides of the family, and also our beloved Parracks who helped prepare us for this whole experience. How amazing it was to reunite four little boys who spent the first two years of their lives in a Siberian orphanage, and will spend the next fifteen or so in Kansas growing up together under rooves filled to overflowing with love.

We really don't know where to start or how much to offer about our travel adventure. You know how women don't talk much about how painful childbirth is? Maybe we'll take the same approach. The eleven-hour flight from Moscow to Atlanta was just too much for all four of us. Very little sleep for Carson and Conner, and none for their folks. Lots of sweet people who helped when they could.

It really was fantastic to get off that plane in Atlanta. But the happy feelings were short lived, because we had to pass through customs (the mean lady that snapped at us about going to the next line because she was starting her break will never know how wrong that was to say), then claim our bags only to lug them through immigrations and re-check them. At immigration, we sort of felt like we were on Ellis Island. All forms of international people just waiting to get their names called, and giving us dirty looks when our names were called ahead of theirs...

We were lucky enough to get the bulkhead to Kansas City, as we had from Moscow to Atlanta. That is a story in itself, but this blog is getting too long. The boys slept straight through the Atlanta flight and when we touched down in KC, there were some quiet tears shed by both new parents.

Have to mention one amazing thing that happened the day before we left. The FIFA world cup for women was going on, and several teams stayed in our hotel. The boys met a large contingent of the Nigerian women's national soccer team and won their hearts! They also met some of the Chinese team. Such worldly little fellas. The Nigerians took lots of pictures which we hope to get copies of.

Now that we're home, we're getting a very painful crash course in parenting. The boys are doing as well as can be expected, and even that is not enough to keep us from feeling completely overwhelmed. The tantrums and meltdowns are tempered by some amazingly sweet moments of them realizing that we are now a family. This morning, during breakfast, Carson was a little unhappy so Conner held his hand through the rest of the meal. It melts your heart.

Thanks for all your well-wishes. You have helped in ways you'll never fully know. Our initial adventure is over and our new, less unique adventure begins. Can't wait to introduce Carson and Conner to everyone!!

Friday it is!

2006-08-23T06:46:00.000-07:00

So very sorry, no pictures. Had to get friendly with the business office staff in order to access the internet. We made it to Moscow, and sure enough, we get to leave a day early! Thank goodness we bought those changeable tickets. All flight info is identical, just one day earlier. So we'll be in the airport at 8 p.m.ish Friday.

Oh, boy we are ready for home. The Kras flight was all we expected. Hot, crowded, and not a fun trip for the boys. Rochelle had one of those experiences we've heard about where the child seems to explode from behind in the miniature, inadequate bathroom. We'll spare you the details. Amazingly enough, Carson has become the difficult one and Conner the sweet one. They have been both angelic and demonic throughout the entire process, completely exhausting their new parents.

The good news in Moscow was a room upgrade. We got a nice big suite. It helped so much yesterday to come to the room after the terrible flight and have a wonderful shower and put on a fancy Marriott robe. Still had to run all over the suite after the boys, though. They are already treating us more like parents and less like caretakers. There are some unbelievably sweet moments in between the temper tantrums. Both boys run up and hug each of us. Conner is speaking all kinds of English, and Carson is now showing that his prize winning smile can often mean "I know what I'm doing is wrong, but if I smile and giggle, you'll let me get away with it."

Our embassy visit went smoothly with the exception that one document had not made it from D.C. today. So our contact will return there tomorrow to get it for us, and we'll be all set to leave Friday mid-day. This has been an incredible adventure and an incredible test. Can't wait to get home and start our new lives. Thanks to all of you for sharing this with us, and keeping us going with your comments. See you soon!