Well, we are settled in for the school year and it's been a great year so far for all of the kids....and David and Me! Vita has recovered from the travesty of not getting the "right" lunch time, Yana is like a new kid-social butterfly and doing great, Jakob is having a wonderful year with a male teacher and good bus driver, Noah is doing great as well...enjoying physics and reading us out of house and home, and Mr. Levi is doing great with kindergarten and his new independence! Levi adjusted to k-garten better than Mom did...much to Mom's dismay!
The girls continue to adjust and adapt. Yana finally figured out why we are strict and have rules...in her words: we don't want the kids to be losers and strippers. Yup...that sums it up!
Vita is doing art club and has enjoyed football games and dances.
Yana is doing art club, spirit club, and like the football games and dances too.
Jakob does what he does best....play ...he has also enjoyed riding his scooter in the neighborhood next door and visiting his friends.
Noah is our busy guy: Scouts, choir, piano, and wrestling
Levi is gaining on Noah: choir and wrestling...not to mention his steady stream of phone calls and friends coming over!
We will be staying in Springfield for the holidays this year....so if you get out our way, stop in and see us!!
10/29/09
8/25/09
Our Summer Summed up!
Big. That describes our family, dreams, goals, and vacation! We started out on Saturday June 27 by car with the kids…with Virginia Beach as our first destination! That’s about 18 hours by car. Don’t give us too much credit yet…David’s parents went also and took 3 of the kids with them! We made it as far as Huntington, WV for our first hotel stay…uneventful..nice sunset behind a bridge was our view from our room. Yay. Off the next day to our final destination in VA Beach! There we stayed at the Sheraton right on the beach…for 3 nights. Our first night there we went to the Holiday Inn for dinner…my long lost sister, KT, has a son who works there. So we had a good dinner and the kids played in the pool there before we walked back to our hotel…observing the street peformers along the way. The boys and I split off from David and the girls…and we got to see some amazing fireworks while we walked the boardwalk!
Day 2: David and Yana celebrated birthdays!!! A day at the beach and cookout at KT’s made it a great way to celebrate! I think Yana had a good first birthday in America….with a beach themed birthday cake and getting to hang out with Oksana, you can’t go wrong!
Tuesday was shopping and more beach time. The girls were going to try surfing…but the surf did not accommodate our plans! We ended our night by gorging on seafood at a buffet…yum yum!! Let me just say that Levi has proven himself to be quite the ladies’ man!! He had two little girlfriends from Ukraine that were all over him….and he them! Mira and Yara! I have never seen so much snugglin’ and kissin’ in all my days!! These little twin 8 yr olds were the most affectionate kiddos I’ve ever laid eyes on! On our last night there Mira cried because we had to say goodbye….did that make me cry? Why yes it did! So hard to see them cry….knowing they have so little joy. They were calling us Momma and Poppa, and David’s parents dirdooshka and babooshka (grama/grampa) by the end of our trip. Nadyia was another Ukie cutie who was there…the most beautiful eyes!! I can say that our adventure to go so far to see someone we had never met was a great way to start our vacation!
From there, we went to Washington, DC to do DC in a day….we also got to see my friend Stephanie who now lives/works in the area…been 7 years since we saw her, so that was a nice bonus to our trip! We did the Mall and went to the museum of natural history before heading out on our trip to PA…Frackville, PA actually! Here we met up with David’s brother and his family at Grammy’s house…a nice low key couple of days with a visit to elderly great great aunts, a block party held by the Ukrainian church, shopping, and some went to see Transformers 2. Sunday David’s two cousins, Holly and Jenny, came up with their families and the kids go along famously!
Oh…forgot to mention our stop at Mt Vernon to visit the original GW’s homestead! Great photo ops and fun history for me and the kids! David makes a great tour guide…never missing a beat with either good information or b.s. made up on the fly! Either way, he’s talented!
(finishing this blog in late august….)
We spent two days at Hershey Park…and the girls got to hang out with a friend from NJ who had been adopted a few years ago. From there we met up with my Dad and Step Mom to give the girls to them for a few weeks…the girls had a lot of fun fishing, camping, Cedar Point, and hanging out with cousins. We enjoyed time with the boys for a few weeks…but were ready for our girls to come home and add some drama to our lives!!
A few days after the girls got home, my grandmother passed away. I drove to Michigan and spent a few days with my dad and celebrated my grama’s life. I learned a lot on that trip…I learned how little I knew about my grandmother. I think that’s another blog though.
Day 2: David and Yana celebrated birthdays!!! A day at the beach and cookout at KT’s made it a great way to celebrate! I think Yana had a good first birthday in America….with a beach themed birthday cake and getting to hang out with Oksana, you can’t go wrong!
Tuesday was shopping and more beach time. The girls were going to try surfing…but the surf did not accommodate our plans! We ended our night by gorging on seafood at a buffet…yum yum!! Let me just say that Levi has proven himself to be quite the ladies’ man!! He had two little girlfriends from Ukraine that were all over him….and he them! Mira and Yara! I have never seen so much snugglin’ and kissin’ in all my days!! These little twin 8 yr olds were the most affectionate kiddos I’ve ever laid eyes on! On our last night there Mira cried because we had to say goodbye….did that make me cry? Why yes it did! So hard to see them cry….knowing they have so little joy. They were calling us Momma and Poppa, and David’s parents dirdooshka and babooshka (grama/grampa) by the end of our trip. Nadyia was another Ukie cutie who was there…the most beautiful eyes!! I can say that our adventure to go so far to see someone we had never met was a great way to start our vacation!
From there, we went to Washington, DC to do DC in a day….we also got to see my friend Stephanie who now lives/works in the area…been 7 years since we saw her, so that was a nice bonus to our trip! We did the Mall and went to the museum of natural history before heading out on our trip to PA…Frackville, PA actually! Here we met up with David’s brother and his family at Grammy’s house…a nice low key couple of days with a visit to elderly great great aunts, a block party held by the Ukrainian church, shopping, and some went to see Transformers 2. Sunday David’s two cousins, Holly and Jenny, came up with their families and the kids go along famously!
Oh…forgot to mention our stop at Mt Vernon to visit the original GW’s homestead! Great photo ops and fun history for me and the kids! David makes a great tour guide…never missing a beat with either good information or b.s. made up on the fly! Either way, he’s talented!
(finishing this blog in late august….)
We spent two days at Hershey Park…and the girls got to hang out with a friend from NJ who had been adopted a few years ago. From there we met up with my Dad and Step Mom to give the girls to them for a few weeks…the girls had a lot of fun fishing, camping, Cedar Point, and hanging out with cousins. We enjoyed time with the boys for a few weeks…but were ready for our girls to come home and add some drama to our lives!!
A few days after the girls got home, my grandmother passed away. I drove to Michigan and spent a few days with my dad and celebrated my grama’s life. I learned a lot on that trip…I learned how little I knew about my grandmother. I think that’s another blog though.
6/6/09
Time Flies....sorta
Summer break has just started and school starts back in 10 weeks! Our summer is jammed packed with stuff...David/Girls on a mission trip, David/Noah Scout camp, my awesome niece-Caitlin coming for her annual visit, VA Beach, Hershey Park, Mackinac Island, baseball games, going to see new friends and old friends. My life is pretty freaking amazing! Without my fantastic husband and 5 unique kids, I would nothing.
Vita has been gone alot to her friends house...when she is home, I hear: I'm bored. I mention summer school and the boredom vanishes. Pretty cool trick, huh??? Yana is having a good summer so far...she has been more interested in friends and socializing. This has been quite a process, but she is definitely a child who needs to come to things in her own time. Stubborn? yes. Strong? yes. The day will come when those characteristics serve her well...today is not that day!! lol The easiest to please are the boys. Give them a water hose, some balloons, and a bucket and they are good for hours! The downside to this plan...we get an 80 pound wet puppy!
Jakob turned 10 a few weeks ago...amazing that we have had him for almost eight years! David and I have also been married 10 years! It has really flown by...for me anyway!! David may feel different, but he would never tell me! 23 days until Yana turns 15...she wants to have a party and I am all for that!! The benefits outweigh the torture! She changes her mind about 10 times/day as to what she wants for a gift. Her inability to commit comforts me...maybe she will not have serious boyfriends!! Noah and Levi tried out for the Children's Choir of SWMO and made it...I can hardly wait for them to start performing! Noah takes it all very seriously...Levi takes very little seriously and is a natural born performer!
Our life is crazy, and we wouldn't have it any other way! Sitting still and being bored have never really been my or David's thing...so we have taken care of any opportunity for boredom!
To quote David: The years fly by so quickly, but days drag on forever! (Amen!)
Vita has been gone alot to her friends house...when she is home, I hear: I'm bored. I mention summer school and the boredom vanishes. Pretty cool trick, huh??? Yana is having a good summer so far...she has been more interested in friends and socializing. This has been quite a process, but she is definitely a child who needs to come to things in her own time. Stubborn? yes. Strong? yes. The day will come when those characteristics serve her well...today is not that day!! lol The easiest to please are the boys. Give them a water hose, some balloons, and a bucket and they are good for hours! The downside to this plan...we get an 80 pound wet puppy!
Jakob turned 10 a few weeks ago...amazing that we have had him for almost eight years! David and I have also been married 10 years! It has really flown by...for me anyway!! David may feel different, but he would never tell me! 23 days until Yana turns 15...she wants to have a party and I am all for that!! The benefits outweigh the torture! She changes her mind about 10 times/day as to what she wants for a gift. Her inability to commit comforts me...maybe she will not have serious boyfriends!! Noah and Levi tried out for the Children's Choir of SWMO and made it...I can hardly wait for them to start performing! Noah takes it all very seriously...Levi takes very little seriously and is a natural born performer!
Our life is crazy, and we wouldn't have it any other way! Sitting still and being bored have never really been my or David's thing...so we have taken care of any opportunity for boredom!
To quote David: The years fly by so quickly, but days drag on forever! (Amen!)
5/25/09
WE ARE NOT DEAD!!!
So, I realized that I have not blogged in forever! (or two months)
School is out....yay (that's from the kids) I leave for Vegas this Thursday...yay ( I think everyone in my family is saying that!!!) David and I celebrate our 10th anniversary this Thursday and Jakob turns 10 this Thursday!
We have a busy summer planned and school will start back before we know it! The girls are going on a mission trip with David to inner city St Louis. Vita is excited...Yana, not so much. I hope they have a good experience. David then goes to Boy Scout camp with Noah for a weekend. That should be fun for them....wonder how Noah will do being camping without a DS, Internet, and wii! My niece Caitlin is coming for a week...her time with us keeps getting shorter as she gets older and has more obligations...but we are grateful that our almost 20 yr old niece still wants to come hang out with us!
Late June we take off on our road trip: VA Beach--------Pennsylvania--------Hershey Park-----head home and drop the girls off with my Dad and Step Mom for a few weeks. Some time in July, me and boys road trip to Michigan to spend a few days and get our girls. Hoping not to total my car on the way home this time....Jakob will sit up front and that will help ALOT!! Also hope my long lost cousin Jill will come visit this summer with her daughter. Open invitation late July thru early august to whoever wants to come out!
School starts back August 18!! And I will be crying when Levi starts kindergarten this year....my stink bug is growing up and I will miss our lunch dates and hanging out together. But don't think for one minute I am getting a real job.....David has spoiled me far to long for that to happen! Hopefully I will be able to commit more to real estate with not having my day split up! Hopefully I can start doing more at church and volunteering more at school.
The girls did GREAT at school this year! Yana had 3-a's, 3-b's, and one c+ (in English...not sure non ESL kids did much better!!) Vita's grades were about the same as Yana's we haven't gotten hers back officially. She was not thrilled with the final exams. I think they are excited for next year with being at the same school and moving into a new high school during Christmas break.
It's going to be a great summer for the Kelletts!
School is out....yay (that's from the kids) I leave for Vegas this Thursday...yay ( I think everyone in my family is saying that!!!) David and I celebrate our 10th anniversary this Thursday and Jakob turns 10 this Thursday!
We have a busy summer planned and school will start back before we know it! The girls are going on a mission trip with David to inner city St Louis. Vita is excited...Yana, not so much. I hope they have a good experience. David then goes to Boy Scout camp with Noah for a weekend. That should be fun for them....wonder how Noah will do being camping without a DS, Internet, and wii! My niece Caitlin is coming for a week...her time with us keeps getting shorter as she gets older and has more obligations...but we are grateful that our almost 20 yr old niece still wants to come hang out with us!
Late June we take off on our road trip: VA Beach--------Pennsylvania--------Hershey Park-----head home and drop the girls off with my Dad and Step Mom for a few weeks. Some time in July, me and boys road trip to Michigan to spend a few days and get our girls. Hoping not to total my car on the way home this time....Jakob will sit up front and that will help ALOT!! Also hope my long lost cousin Jill will come visit this summer with her daughter. Open invitation late July thru early august to whoever wants to come out!
School starts back August 18!! And I will be crying when Levi starts kindergarten this year....my stink bug is growing up and I will miss our lunch dates and hanging out together. But don't think for one minute I am getting a real job.....David has spoiled me far to long for that to happen! Hopefully I will be able to commit more to real estate with not having my day split up! Hopefully I can start doing more at church and volunteering more at school.
The girls did GREAT at school this year! Yana had 3-a's, 3-b's, and one c+ (in English...not sure non ESL kids did much better!!) Vita's grades were about the same as Yana's we haven't gotten hers back officially. She was not thrilled with the final exams. I think they are excited for next year with being at the same school and moving into a new high school during Christmas break.
It's going to be a great summer for the Kelletts!
3/10/09
Current Events!
If I had to pick one word to describe our life....chaos. But a good chaos...not the burning stuff, police, blood shedding, 911 calls kind of chaos. But the "I need a bigger planner" type of chaos!
It seems that all the kids' dentist appointments hit at once..followed by appointments for fillings, of course! Factor in field trips, practices, meetings, other appointments, shopping for summer clothes (even tho it's not really warm yet...but how else do you get Yana off your hind end about needing summer clothes????)
I am in the process of going thru orientation/processing for a new job. I have tallied it up and have 33 hours of "stuff" to do before I can do training in the clinic where I will work....8 hours/week. Seems like a lot of "stuff" to work just one day/week. Oh well, I will be well "orientated" (I hate that word, by the way...it's not a real word!)
Vita is going to start job hunting soon...trips to the mall remind her that she needs more money than we provide. Good thing to learn early on! She wanted to work at the movie rental place....but I had to explain to her that you have to be 18 to work there. That wasn't good enough, she wanted to know why. She still isn't clear on why she can't work some place, legally, that rents porn, until she's 18. We'll try the movie theater instead....
I was tucking Jakob into bed last night and he was very serious and said: "Mom, I don't know what I would do without you, or Dad. I guess I would still be in the orphanage or dead. If I were in the orphanage at school, it would be bad because I wouldn't understand anything they say because I don't know Russian." Bless his little heart.....
Noah has been stressed out lately....he's having a hard time figuring out if he wants to:
a) not get married/not have kids
b) get married/not have kids
c) get married/have kids
I wish he would relax and think about less grown up stuff...but that's Noah, a planner and a worrier. Not sure where he gets that....
Yana is on a wild rollercoaster ride of moods like all 14 yr old girls...unfortunately, we are all along for the ride! Some times we just cock our heads and look at her...not really sure what to do!
Levi has been on a birthday party frenzy of late! His own and some for his buddies. I am least looking forward to the pool party. Of course it's a single dad who is hosting this for his kid....I have to wonder a little bit about ulterior motives on this one! The party does encourage me to lose a few pounds. It's a tough decision....let Levi get in the pool without me and pray I don't have to jump in fully clothed to save him OR take one for the team, yet again, and don a bathing suit, scaring all the children and providing gossip material for all the young moms, to protect my non swimming child from drowning. Should I wear the one with the skirt????
Through the grace of God and medication I will get through the mom gig!
It seems that all the kids' dentist appointments hit at once..followed by appointments for fillings, of course! Factor in field trips, practices, meetings, other appointments, shopping for summer clothes (even tho it's not really warm yet...but how else do you get Yana off your hind end about needing summer clothes????)
I am in the process of going thru orientation/processing for a new job. I have tallied it up and have 33 hours of "stuff" to do before I can do training in the clinic where I will work....8 hours/week. Seems like a lot of "stuff" to work just one day/week. Oh well, I will be well "orientated" (I hate that word, by the way...it's not a real word!)
Vita is going to start job hunting soon...trips to the mall remind her that she needs more money than we provide. Good thing to learn early on! She wanted to work at the movie rental place....but I had to explain to her that you have to be 18 to work there. That wasn't good enough, she wanted to know why. She still isn't clear on why she can't work some place, legally, that rents porn, until she's 18. We'll try the movie theater instead....
I was tucking Jakob into bed last night and he was very serious and said: "Mom, I don't know what I would do without you, or Dad. I guess I would still be in the orphanage or dead. If I were in the orphanage at school, it would be bad because I wouldn't understand anything they say because I don't know Russian." Bless his little heart.....
Noah has been stressed out lately....he's having a hard time figuring out if he wants to:
a) not get married/not have kids
b) get married/not have kids
c) get married/have kids
I wish he would relax and think about less grown up stuff...but that's Noah, a planner and a worrier. Not sure where he gets that....
Yana is on a wild rollercoaster ride of moods like all 14 yr old girls...unfortunately, we are all along for the ride! Some times we just cock our heads and look at her...not really sure what to do!
Levi has been on a birthday party frenzy of late! His own and some for his buddies. I am least looking forward to the pool party. Of course it's a single dad who is hosting this for his kid....I have to wonder a little bit about ulterior motives on this one! The party does encourage me to lose a few pounds. It's a tough decision....let Levi get in the pool without me and pray I don't have to jump in fully clothed to save him OR take one for the team, yet again, and don a bathing suit, scaring all the children and providing gossip material for all the young moms, to protect my non swimming child from drowning. Should I wear the one with the skirt????
Through the grace of God and medication I will get through the mom gig!
2/26/09
MIA
Life here has been full of activity and busyness!
We have celebrated some birthdays since my last blog! Noah turned 7...he had a little sleep over with a buddy. Vita turned 16..WOW!!! She had a party with about 6 girls. We went for Chinese food, bowling, and a sleep over. She was so happy and said it was her best birthday ever. I can tell you there wasn't much left of the heart shaped strawberry cake and nothing left of the chocolate covered strawberries! I think the girls were up until 5am...didn't keep me awake and no one went outside!! Now to get that girl a job!! We went to the mall to spend her birthday money and she realizes that our income can not afford her taste! Today was our baby's birthday...and Levi is 5. When I look at him, I still see a little baby-but he reminds me often of the fact that he's a big boy!
Vita starts running track next week...she's excited and we are excited for her. It's great to see her getting so involved in stuff like art club and culture club. We hope on day Yana will decided to have friends and get involved in more stuff..she just doesn't have the desire right now. Jakob is getting so tall...and still stick thin! I think he burns more calories than he can take in in a day! He still loves Transformers and is counting down the days 'til the new movie comes out in June!
Zoie the dog is getting HUGE...45 pounds at 5 months. As Noah put it, we had her "womanlihood removed"...so life should be better in the long run. The kids all want puppies....I don't think so. And BC our kitty had to have surgery on his backside. He is declawed, but thinks he's an outside cat. Likes to fight...loses, had bites on backside...abcess....rupture....surgery...stitches. After seeing our vet's sewing skills, David commented on how he understands why she chose to be a vet and not a plastic surgeon!
Life is good at Camp Kellett. God continues to bless us and provide for our big family! We look forward to the summer and getting out and doing some outdoor stuff and getting away from the wii and ds!
We have celebrated some birthdays since my last blog! Noah turned 7...he had a little sleep over with a buddy. Vita turned 16..WOW!!! She had a party with about 6 girls. We went for Chinese food, bowling, and a sleep over. She was so happy and said it was her best birthday ever. I can tell you there wasn't much left of the heart shaped strawberry cake and nothing left of the chocolate covered strawberries! I think the girls were up until 5am...didn't keep me awake and no one went outside!! Now to get that girl a job!! We went to the mall to spend her birthday money and she realizes that our income can not afford her taste! Today was our baby's birthday...and Levi is 5. When I look at him, I still see a little baby-but he reminds me often of the fact that he's a big boy!
Vita starts running track next week...she's excited and we are excited for her. It's great to see her getting so involved in stuff like art club and culture club. We hope on day Yana will decided to have friends and get involved in more stuff..she just doesn't have the desire right now. Jakob is getting so tall...and still stick thin! I think he burns more calories than he can take in in a day! He still loves Transformers and is counting down the days 'til the new movie comes out in June!
Zoie the dog is getting HUGE...45 pounds at 5 months. As Noah put it, we had her "womanlihood removed"...so life should be better in the long run. The kids all want puppies....I don't think so. And BC our kitty had to have surgery on his backside. He is declawed, but thinks he's an outside cat. Likes to fight...loses, had bites on backside...abcess....rupture....surgery...stitches. After seeing our vet's sewing skills, David commented on how he understands why she chose to be a vet and not a plastic surgeon!
Life is good at Camp Kellett. God continues to bless us and provide for our big family! We look forward to the summer and getting out and doing some outdoor stuff and getting away from the wii and ds!
1/18/09
Where does the time go???
I sort of dropped off the face of the earth so it seems!
Life has been pretty normal, for us anyway! The kids are all back to school and doing GREAT!! Jakob has not had quality time with the principal this year....as opposed to at least weekly in 2008....I guess all the meds he was on really didn't help (I should have been a doctor......) He is having a much better time in school and I don't dread answering the phone. Noah (who is going to be 7 this week) is under the radar as always...still loves his gifted day of school each week and jumps out of bed on fire on that day! Levi is just growing up too fast...my soon to be five year old spent the night with a buddy for the first time last night. I missed him so much. He missed me too, I think....and ended up in the bed of the buddy's 16 year old sister. That's our boy! Vita has evicted Yana from their bedroom, so Yana is now in her own room...this is a big step for a kid who is use to sharing a room with 5 other people. She seems to like it and I think the time is right. Of all the kids, I fear Yana will be the one to bankrupt us on groceries. She has gone from a tiny little girl body to a 14 year old body...that is liked by a boy named Riley! Thankfully, she is shy at school....not at home though! Vita is enjoying school more and more as she makes more friends. I think she is nervous about the father/daughter dance....she should have asked to see David's alleged "moves" before asking him to be her date!
The girls went bowling for the first time this weekend...and loved it. I think if they hadn't had bumpers, the love would not have been there! Tomorrow is MLK day, so no school. They have no idea who he is, and don't care....all they care about is that he scored them a day off school.
After Noah hits the big 07 this week, we will start figuring out Vita's sweet 16. One thing I can promise with 100% certainty.....there will be no driving/car component to her birthday...but maybe a part-time job is in her future!
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