Countdown To the New Year

We are just getting the party started, well not actually , seems like it has been on going since about 5pm. We walked up to the fake Walmart and bought some candy and chips and confetti bombs. Just the big girls, so it was a good time and walk together, we talked about college. Also finally made it into this store I have seen that has some cute girls clothes and also hats/gloves, kind of like a Claire's but nicer. Inayah found some birthday things, so that was fun. Always nice to go shopping and get exactly what you want. We also played nail shop earlier today so she has nice pink nails too. We had a good time together.

8pm, getting started on the 1s and 2s now, cooking some chicken, deviled eggs, and of course we have to have the balck eyed peas for good luck and prosperity in 2010.

The children have eaten so much candy... I'm afraid.. dance contest to follow, brownies in the oven too. And pop since its a party night. Probably get out the Wii later, but for now Richard Pryor's 'Stir Crazy" in the dvd, so we are all laughing it up together.

9pm Just finding time to jump on here and blog for a moment,just got Inara out to the tub, about to put the balck eyed peas on, they have been soaking for the past few hours. Hoping to post video from dance contest, which should be getting started in about 15 mintutes. Ibrahim is video taping so Im sure he is catching moments of me yelling and some pure comedy, because that is what goes on here. Okay I have to get back to the chaos. I'll give another update in an hour or so.

1am and the party has officially come to an end. We can see the fireworks from then Centre from upstairs. Ishmael and Idreis won the first basketball game of the year, beating Ibo and K. Inara is back awake so hopefully that wont last for too long. We also did the confetti bombs outside on the patio, and inside too, the children made sure to clean it all up.

Happy New Year, 2010!!

Ice Skating Slush & Flurries

Winter break for the children means that mom needs to find somethings in Kyiv for them to do so that we can get off the sixth floor. We have been to visit a new mall that has bowling and ice-skating, also to the Circus and to the Nutcracker ballet (have to tell that story too).

We found a winter ice-skating show of Ukrainian world and olympic champions. The show was nice, a bit cold inside so good thing we did not check our coats. The children enjoyed especially the Michael Jackson tribute to "I'm Bad". They also did versions of The Snow Queen, "Carmen" and "Swan Lake". One of the performers even had on like 16 inch high ice skates, very impressive.



The journey home was another story...

The Kyiv Circus

The Circus Crew/Cast

This was a very interesting circus. I saw some things here that I did not expect to see at all. At times, my eyes were bucked open, and other times, my mouth dropped to the floor. So, the center of the floor is the circus ring, I would say maybe 18ft across, with all the seating around the center of the arena. Children under 5 are free but if you want them to have their own seat, you shoud buy a ticket. We only bought 5 tickets, and if you can do the math, then you know we had some on laps.. The show was mostly sold out.

I have been to plenty of circus shows in my days, the animals at the Kiev Circus definently surprised me and caught me a bit off guard. No elephants, and no shooting cannons. Which was fine. The first thing that we saw that made me smile were white skunks, goats and a St. Bernard dog pulling a cart with two small pigs on the back of it. I also saw a magic trick, where 2 small white rats went into the box, and two very large racoon sized white rats with tails came out, they spun around on two wheels and peed. It was disgusting!

We also saw porcupines that climbed over a bridge, and around the ring.

The tigers were not a big hit with me, they put a fence up around the ring for safety. One of the tigers was not in a good mood and I could tell from where I was sitting that it wasn't having a very good day and was not listening. It looked like they shortend that part of the show.

My favorite part of the show was the bears who were walking on two feet, and one of them could even drive somehow.. He picked up some fluffy white dogs as he drove around the ring, one would jump off and the other dog would jump on, very cool.

I also like the pirate and his parrots, I have never seen such well-trained birds

They had a lot of sky acrobatics and juggling in the air. Singing and dancing and theate play.

Somehow they managed to even attempt to rap and dance to Mc Hammers "Can't Touch This", and Idreis politely said, " Don't they know they're ruining a classic?". I had a good laugh, he is full of one liners. All of us were shocked to see the group of 6 men doing climbing and strength lifts and holds with each other, Inayah said out loud, " Look!, It's black people". Probably the only other people of color in Kyiv besides us. They had a good show of strength too.

I just wish they didn't have to wear the leopard suits.....

One part of the show had 2 very large bull sealions that bounced balls back and forth to the children in the audience. This was cool, but the only problem was all the children were down surronding the ring and maybe only two to three feet away from the bulls. All I could think in my mind is, "haven't these people ever seen When Animals Attack?

Overall the children had a good time, it was a nice day so I was able to walk down to the circus and back home which was nice for me because I miss my Calhoun Lake walks.

Ibrahim's favorite animal at the circus was the alligator, notice the 4 furry legs.

Snowing again.

Snowing here again today. I managed to get out in it with a walk down to the big store with Ibrahim, Inayah and Ish. Thank goodness for that because I ended up buying too much stuff and needed all the arms to help carry the bags back. Luckily Ibrahim is so strong. The snow was like flurries and wet, great snowball weather, our jackets were soaked when we got back for the most part. I had to re-stock my fruits and vegetables

and get some things for dinner as well.

We did not do much today, hung around the house for the day. Khalid had them all cleaning this morning, so that was a funny sight. They are all hard workers when they have to be. Sometimes we forget to let children be children. Always making them do something. I dont mind it at all though. Good for their souls. Hopefully they will thank us some day.

I think I found a way for the the Wii to work so I may let them play later.

Boys are at their practice. Khalid went with them today so they may get an exttra unexpected work-out. When they get home, they will probably wish they had not invited him along. I just hope they will be so tired that they will want to eat and go straight to sleep. I know some wishful thinking on my part that most likely wont happen... But.. I can nightdream.

Found these on a fun website

Bed Time and Sweet Dreams

Just the boys.. Showing off their new pajamas

They will be warm tonight on the Sixth Floor

My Six Sweeties, warm and all snuggled, ready for bed.

Happy Holidays to All Close and Afar

Stayed up way to late skyping with everyone at G&Gs but well worth it! So nice to see all the family and imagine everyone eating soup and opening presents around the tree. The kids keep reminding me that although we are Muslim, we do celebrate Christmas with Granma Kris, and that the holiday is about family and loving each other. They will be such well rounded citizens of the world. We did have presents from Granma too but we opened them for Eid, I will report however that the warm-footed pajamas are enjoyed by all. Breakfast was cream of wheat with Russian teacakes (snowball cookies) and tea. I think the whole box that mom sent when we first came over will be gone today, I dont think Idreis has found them yet. We had a short discussion about Prophet Jesus and the miracles he preformed and why he was so loved by some. We also talked about why Muslims believe that G-d is the Greatest, and that all things good and kind come from Allah. But that we would never equate an eartly man to being G-d. A bit much for small children to understand, but it was fun sharing the fish and loaves story, and also healing the blind. Khalid is due back in about 2 hours, I should probably start straightening up a bit and get dressed, I need another up of tea myself. So glad that I brought some Red Rose with me. I was a little sad last night, thinking about what we were missing, not the presents and food, but the good company of family and the smells of cardiman rolls in the morning, the snow falling and the stocking hung over the fireplace, well actually the stockings would be over-stuffed and laying on the floor. We are having homeschool now and Ibo and Isa are vacuming, have to keep the very busy or we never get any school work done.

We had a nice winter walk yesterday up to the park, they have built a winter lodge for Saint Nicolas here were you can be photo'd, etc.., we skipped that, they have a stage set up too and of course the El-Amin 5 wanted to get up there and show their moves off, but we passed on that too, it was very foggy last night. They made two snowmen, and had lots of fun throwing snowballs at each other. We found a vending maching that had hot chocolate and I guessed the right button so we all enjoyed hot cocoa while walking around. It wasn't too cold out either so we had a nice time.

The owner came and changed the sink faucet, I guess that is what they decided that was the problem.. The owner also handed me her cell phone to have someone who spoke English to tell me to, "be careful with the children and the water". So, if all else fails and you have three plumbers come and try to figure out why there is water dripping into the lower unit, but you reall dont know why... When all else fails... Blame the children. I politelty told her that we have not had any problems with water spilling over in the bathroom. Hopefully whatever we did will solve the problem.

We also found that we have Tetris game on the cable, so we can play it on the television, it is like the only video game that I am good at, and the Wii is still not fixed, but I do have the high score.

Winter Break

We finally made it to see the dolphin show, and it was nice, the children had a great time hanging out with the Henderson's. The chlorine smell in the building has burned the inside of my nose, but the dancing sea lions and flipping dolphins were worth it all. Idreis of course wanted to take pictures with the dolphins afterwards, I told him maybe for his birthday, you can even swim with the dolphins for a little over 100usd.. Returned home to have another build your own pizzas. It took us 1.5 hours to get home in the taxi... the traffic here is something else and of course living downtown where everyone is trying to get to, doesn't help much at all either.

The owner of the building came by today, somehow water is dripping into the unit below us.... I know she is ready to kick us out of here, I had to leave the keys with the security guy downstairs, you know I did not want to do that... I probably hid my jewelry exactly where a theif would look, luckily when we got back here everything was in its place.

Another great day for homeschooling :) we didnt do too much, spelling and some math and writing, I am sure the boys will need to attend summer school.. Inayah is rolling right along and actually learning division and multiplication in school.. That was a surprise to me. Probably lay low tomorrow and maybe take a walk to the park or the the indoor playland, since we had our field trip today. They all wrote in their journals about the outing too, and tomorrow will do some online research about dolphins..

Chilling now, watching Animal Planet, waiting and hoping they all doze off to slumberland soon, one by one. So far, none down and Six to go.

Winter Wonderland

Power is back on and it is still snowing. We went on a walk and bought Ish and Dreis some snow boots, let me tell you, they dont believe in shoveling the sidewalks here.. not at all. The furs are in full effect and make me feel like I should have brought mine along. Not sure what is for dinner, but K is leaving in the morning so hoping he will go to the store and stock up for me because the idea of walking with them all done there in the snow is not very appealing.

My little angels making snow angels.

Inayah enjoying the first full snow fall. Her favorite thing about the snow is making snowmen, snow angels, and having snow ball fights.

Winter fun with dad in front of our building.

Power To The People

So.., last night (Friday), we spent the evening at home, K was away on the road. The power had been on and off most of the day. Luckly when it did come on I quickly made dinner. Ish and Idreis went to basketball practice by taxi at 6:45, when they came home at 9pm, it was to a dark apartment, with two candles lit in the living room, thanks to the lighter from the doorman. They all slept on the floor in the livingroom, snuggled all together like a pack of baby wolves. I think I sang about 20 lullabies last night, of course they were all scared but I reassured them it was no different then when they stay up late watching movies in the dark.. they did not buy that.. Why would they, no television was on. I thought to myself that I need to go ahead and make a children's cd with all that singing. It was fun singing in the dark to candlelight. Made me feel important. The heat at least is on because it is gas I suppose.. if you even want to call it heat. I wore gloves around the apartment most of the day.. cold. drafty and windows above all the heaters, what kind of sense does that make. Khalid made it home around 3am., still no power. I woke up at 6am to the lights coming on, quickly took a bath and by 7:30 am they were back off again....

Needless to say, no Saturday morning cartoons.. We spent the morning in the house playing Scrabble, some new card games and just clowning around, without any power. Still very cold in here, although the heat is on??? Afternoon came and we decided to walk up to Athina which is a Greek restaurant, maybe 5 buildings up from us. Before we went, the children and Khalid played in the snow (I will post pics and video tmrw). They had a lot of fun with each other and as Inayah remarked, " This is NariBears first time seeing snow". It was snowing while we walked, not much but enough that you had to dust off every 10 minutes. Lunch was good and the children enjoyed. Isa made sure to re-give Khalid's directions about when the bread came to only take one, " Guys.. guys.. only take one bread. Inayah, you get one bread, Idreis you get one bread, me get two and Ibrahim you get one bread, and Ish you get two". We all cracked up. Walked back to the apartment in the snow, power was on when we got back. YEAH!!!!

The power did not last long at all. Maybe 20 minutes... Ibrahim, Ishmael and I went back out to buy the Wii, not sure why, I guess wishful thinking that the power would come back on... it did not. We stopped at a electronics store and found a universal charger for Ishmael's laptop that actually works, and to our surprise when we went into the store and asked if anyone new English, the guy behind he register nodded and called somebody... Guess who came around the corner? A brother, Ish and I both had a shocked look on our face. His name was Daniel and he is from Liberia, well his father, he has been here his whole life. Very nice young man. Left that shop to go and get the Wii, and then got the boots and belt that I have had my eye on for like 3 weeks now. Back to the apartment... still no electricity. So I feed Inara and then head back out with Idreis and Inayah to go and get some more candles and supplies for dinner. I definently was able to get my excercise tonight so that was nice after being in the house for the past 2 days.. Kids are out of school now for the next three weeks, but we will be doing homeschool for sure.. I cooked chicken vegetable soup for the first time, it turned out pretty good, Isa fell to sleep at the table. Electricity still out.. we all ate candlelight together that was nice. The kids all played hidenseek in the dark with Khalid while I was cooking, so they were all running around screaming in the dark for a good hour. Inayah helped me cut up all the vegetables.

At about 10:30pm maybe later, the power finally came back on. I'm not sure that I believe that it will stay on, but while it is I thought I better check my emails and jump online. Thank the lord for some, power to the people.

Feels Right At Home

Today was productive for me and I think i spent at least 75% of the day off the sixth floor, which is a first sincce we have been here. Woke up with the school kids and stayed awake, did my weights, played memory with Isa. Did a whole lot of cleaning and then took Isa and Ibrahim to the inside playland which is done the street. It was like -14 celcius here today, luckily the walk is just long enough not to freeze. Isa was licking his lips and chin the entire way there, I think it may have warmed him up somehow. He loves his tomato hat that Doris made but would have been better off with a warmer hat on, we could not convince him to change and so he was a bit cold. They may have made it down to the playland in record time, so the weather felt right at home. Played for an hour, I watched for awhile and then went and picked some groceries up. Ibrahim met a friend named Jackson, there are from Australia via Canada and have previously lived in Kiev. Fun for Ibo to have someone to play with besides Isa. They gave each other a high five as we left.

Picked up the school kids today with Mr. M, that is the name Idreis has given him, and rightfully so since his name is Malenco. There was a book fair at school today, so all picked a book out and suprisingly they all picked something interesting. I also went and made a partial payment on their tuition. I was handling business today, and that felt right at home. The staff at the school are very friendly. We left the school and arrived home about 4:45, I was able to get everyone a snack and then we were picked up again by Mr. M to go and try and find this basketball practice for the older two boy, supposed to get there at 6, left the house at 5;30 and still didn't arrive until 6:15. The practice was okay, they will both sleep well tonight. It is a M,W,F thing so im hoping something they will want to continue doing. We all went while K was still at practice and Ibrahim, Isa, and Inayah were right at home in the gym, running up and down the court, shooting ath the baskets. The practice is held at a school, the gym is so so, very old wood floor that looked very slippery and reminded me of playing floor hockey when I was younger.
None the less, running the boys around to a practice, felt right a home.

We made it back hom about 7:45, finished making the dinner that I had started earlier, baths, dinner and got them to bed, it is so cold in the apartment, What happened to heat rising? I mean cold... like my mom's house but worse, and for those who know how KG feels about turning the heat up, know what I mean. The upstairs where the school crew sleep is even worse, they have heaters against the walls up there, about 6 of them, conveniently located right below windows.. not sure what the point of that was, but they have extra blankets and body heat so they will be alright.

Inara is awake and crawling around, exploring, chewing on chicken bones, and trying to keep her little cheeks warm. It is nice and quiet, watching CNN, so like Cube says, "Today was a good day", im feeling right at home.

Mondays are always a great start of the week

Just came back from nice walk alone down to their version of Superwalmart, also found a mall.. or mall type on the next street over which I am a little familiar with because of the toy store, found some snowpants for Isa and Inayah. She has been complaining at school recess about being cold and has just been wearing jogging pants over her clothes. It is a bit chilly here today, 14 degrees, so feeling right at home. Will maybe take them out for a quick breathe of fresh air and walk up the middle walkway of the street. I am going to make chicken lasagna and broccoli tonight, and hopefully garlic bread too.
I have been struggling with my raw foods day the past 2 days, but even having the idea in thr front of my mind has helped me not to snack. I will be missing soup at grandpas next week for sure, and my mom's holiday rolls.. no fair. I am sure those of you who are lucky enough to get her Winter Christmas Holiday cookies, can't wait for that delivery. I am supposedly going to plan out a lot of great things for us to do the next few weeks as all the crew will beback in effect since BISK is on vacation for 3 weeks, they wont go back to school until January 12th 2010.
Inara has decided that the stairs look interesting and waits at the bottom and calls up to the children. She is also putting her hands up on the couch and chairs and attempting to pull-up, but doesn't get up past her knees., and doesn't know how to get down. Which has resulted in a few head knocks.

Raw Food Day Foiled By Beef Pepperoni Pizza

Took the younger crew on a mid-afternoon winter walk, slight snow in the air, Nari bundled up in her snowsuit and three pairs of socks, no footies on the suit. She took a nap while we walked.
The sidewalks at the park were icy so you could slide along while walking. Ibrahim took full advantage of that.
I was supposed to have a raw foods day today, introduced to me by my lil sister, I started out good with banana and water this morning.... didn't make it through to lunch, and dinner was no better as we had pizza, we made our own. It was fun to see the designs that the children came up with. Ishmael decided on a triple cheese and triple pepperoni, Inayah made a peace sign with her pepperoni, Idreis made an X, for his super x-ray powers that he has, Ibrahim was just random cheese and pepperoni. Of course if you are wondering how in the heck we found beef pepperoni in Kyiv... we didn't. Another one of my smuggled items. It was a good time, but totally put a grand finale end to my supposed "raw foods" day. I am for sure doing it tomorrow, I have everything I need, so no excuses but my own self desires.. and the chocolate chip bars that I made last night did not help either.
Well it is Friday night, which means, Dancing on the Sixth... full of laughs.

Our First Snow

So we aren't too behind compared to Minneosta, as we got our first snow today. Not sure if I should call it that as none of it stayed on the ground but it did look really pretty coming down. Ibrahim and I took a moment today and watched it from the window. Then it seemed about 15 minutes later and it was gone, started up again later in the evening. Ibrahim and Isa painted a bit this evening while I was cooking, Ibrahim was painting the letter E. I thought that was interesting, seeing how that was the last letter we had been working on. Also made me realize I need to show him another letter tomorrow. Maybe B so he can learn to write his name.
I can't believe that he is five now and will be starting kindergarten in the fall.

Very interesting living downtown in a major city for the first time. People always rushing to beat the cross light, students hurrying to make it to class on time, couples in the park cuddled on a bench with their little paper cups (not for tea). We are in walking distance of Khreschatyk street which is considered by some to be Kiev's Rodeo Drive. There are always people out in about. They have decorated for the holidays so the street is covered with overhead hanging lights. Very pretty at night.

O' Happy Day

Finished my book today, not bad for a lady who doesn't read. One of the self things I am working on while I'm over here. I did not leave the 6th floor today, which is a big no, no. But, I am also trying to accept that I dont always have to be doing something and I can enjoy myself without being out in the world, running the streets. It is so so so hard! Self humbling. Ibrahim made it out to feed the pigeons with Khalid, we tried to go yesterday afternoon but we were not able to find any birds. Ibo of course was happy to tell me all about it when he came back in.
Didn't really do anything exciting today at all, nothing productive, cleaned, cooked, and cared for kids. The life... Not..... My life, so I will deal with the cards that I handed myself. Now, dont get me wrong, im not saying that I would have it any other way, because I would. I am missing the things in life that matter to a mother of six, FREEDOM.
At least there is a game tomorrow and maybe some fun on Sunday to celebrate Ish birthday.
Inara is on the move, she is everywhere, enjoying her new found movement. She is also becoming more and more interested in food and wants a cracker for snack now, she was even gnawing on a turkey jerky stick this afternoon.
Isa has become to mocking machine and feels the need to repeat every direction that I give to the children, right now he is headed upstairs to tell them to, "Go to bed and turn the lights off, and I dont want to come up there one more time" It is hilarious around here for real. Never missing a beat. He even went on the balcony this morning to yell down to the kids as they were getting into the taxi, "make sure you put your seatbelt on". I had to crack up.
Ibrahim is working on writing his letters with me during the day, today was E, and he did very well, I was suprised.
Here it is 8:30pm, I call myself trying to ge the school crew in bed an hour ago, since none of them like to get up in the morning and they do have school tomorrow (Saturday). Inayah upstairs playing hidenseek by herself, Idreis just came down here asking bout toilet paper, so you already know who I will be waking up first in the morning.

Ishmael is Eleven Today!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to Ishmael, turning 11 today. Nothing too exciting on the home front. I would like to thank all the Skypers, the emails and the birthday gifts. He did enjoy all of them!

Very thoughtful of you all to think of him while we are overseas.

For some reason the school crew thinks it is a good idea to still be awake, it is about 9:30pm now, too hot, thristy, too cold.. I just made them all get up and clean the upstairs, I figure if they are not going to sleep I may as well get some work out of them. Idreis half did the dishes after our pizza dinner. I swear, I am back on my diet tomorrow. We did go for a long walk today, we found a Game Stop store like at home, trying to replace the Wii, they are out unitl the 15th of December, and then to the park, a bit cold and misty but we enjoyed the fresh air if nothing else.

The team won their game tonight, and also called to wish Ish birthday greetings. That brought a smile to his face as well.

Still trying to post the video of Inara crawling but or some reason every time I try to load it, its just loads and loads and loads...? So for now you can watch Maggie crawl since that is what K calls her some times, "Lil maggie"

I think stay at home moms deserve a tax credit or something. I mean it is nonstop work all day long, way more than a 9to5 gig. It's like I should have a button on me like Rosie from the Jetsons, cook, clean, wash, hug, clean, teach, cook, preach, straighten up, budget, clean, cook, teach, pick a button. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but the work and the sweat. And Ido have a break in the day now with the school crew gone. Ibrahim and Isa will run you ragged. I mean here it is 10:00pm at night, and i'm still washing kids up and playing rubadubdub in the tub..

Nari Bear On the Move

It took my girl awhile, compared to the other five,

but by golly I think she has it, and boy are we in trouble now.

I had to ask myself today, "How did she get out here?"

Just figuring Nayah picked her up as she always had.

No more backward scoots, or small yells of frustration,

because this evening, Nari Bear is a crawling,

a glorious celebration.

Really, really boring day today, the olders got off to school, and we waited around until 1:30pm for the cable man to show up...., he never did. A very gray day full of drizzle outside. The smaller crew and I took a cab to what I thought was going to be a great pre-school for Ibrahim and Isa part-time for 3 days a week, it turned out, that the all Russian speaking school did not think it would be good for the children to attend because of the language barrier... this is after I had exchanged at least 10 emails with one of the teachers.. in English. After getting back into the cab, I amused myself by playing the race card... just made me be thankful for JoyFull House in Istanbul, where all the staff were Turkish and barely no one spoke English at all but my children were welcomed and fit in just fine (Ishmael and Idreis). Children find a way to make sense of the world, without language, but if they thought it would be "difficult" who was I to say otherwise... onto plan B.

Dinner was leftover sides from Thanksgiving, minus the turkey since we seemed to have devoured that already. My caramel cake is still good, and even better for breakfast. I did make pancakes this morning for the school crew. They did not get home til about 5:15pm because of afterschool activities, today was Taewondo.

We managed to ZAP the Wii last night, somehow having the right adapter makes a difference, Ibo and Idreis were playing Mario for at least a half hour and the next thing you know it went black, now the main counsel will not turn back on.. pissed is an under statement, and I was going to do the Wii Fit program instead of getting a membership at a gym around here.. looks like I need to start researching that again.

Ishmael will be 11 tomorrow, so crazy to think the time that has passed since he was born in Storrs, CT. Seems like yesterday, but then it doesn't. He was such a joy to have for a first born, guess I just kept getting lucky after him because they all have made parenting seem easy in a way.. must be late because what the heck am I saying. Not too many plans for his birthday, I am going to try and bake a cake for him to take to school because we wont have cake at home until this weekend.