Aargh!

Miss S decided on a Pirate Pricess-themed 5th birthday party in September.  Conveniently, GranDora and Aunty Voo sent along an amazing couple of costumes.  The youngest child, of course, only wanted to wear the fairy underdress, and not the lovely pink overdress with sparkles.  Then again, at this point, she was in week 3 of her "defining boundaries" stage - she had refused to wear pants (only dresses), socks or shoes.  Drove me batty.  At daycare they told her she couldn't go outside without shoes - her response?  "Ok."  Future lawyer or politician, that one....

But back to the party - she was delighted to be a pirate, and we eve had a spare eyepatch around.  She kept saying "aaaargh", and squinted her eye just so.  I organized a treasure hunt in the backyard, and we painted ceramic pig piggy banks, and glued/stuck sparkly fake gems on pirate hats.  It was a beautiful, beautiful Spring day, and to give you a sense of how well it went, when I called them all in from playing outside to come have some cake... they didn't want to!  

And jsut to compete with Aunty Lisa, I made a giant cupcake shaped cake, frosted it brown, stuck jewels in halfway around, and it made a great treasure chest. 

Kiddie Vodka Shots

After a trip to the Botanical Gardens, what better than water out of shot glasses.  Largely because they were the only glasses available in the room. Bottoms up!

Easter Sunday - Looking for treats!

The baskets started out empty, but for some soft, floppy bunnies, and some leftover New Year's candy (shhh, don't tell the girls!)

It doesn't take much to impress them - here Miss S is showing off her ChupaChup lollipop.  The idea that there was candy hidden all over the house was exhilarating to her.

The older got the concept, and you can see an egg hidden behind her on the chair.  She left some for her sister - some of the more obvious ones, but as you can see, Miss G found what she always finds - mischief!  She loves to push the power button on the laptop and see if anyone is Skype-ing her, since obviously that's the only reason people Skype, right?

The Easter bunny was creative, and even hid an egg in our toy teapot.  Mom was only concerned that we find all of the real eggs, and they not disappear to be discovered either during packout or, even worse, after we arrived in New Zealand!  But I needn't have worried - as you can see, the haul was excellent.  And she even got over her initial concern when she picked up an empty egg "Mom!  It doesn't have any lollies!  What's wrong!"  Perhaps the Easter Bunny is trying to teach you that the hunt is just as important as the result?

 

Egg-stravaganza!

Even though we're overseas, we still like to do somewhat traditional things.  Traditional American things, as we also take on activities reflective of where we are.  And this year, we got to dye Easter eggs. We waited until G "The Destructor" was down for a nap, since her current craze is to "decorate" the house, just as we get ready to leave, with crayon and paint, and I thought that egg dye would be too much for me to handle. 

And so below, I include to keep the punters happy...enjoy my proof that my kids do all get along, and the teenager is actively engaged in our lives.  (Good form, son!)

Easter finery at the Marine House

Happy, Happy Easter!This was the first year that we really felt like at least one of the girls was interested and involved in the process. But that didn't stop the youngest from having fun!  We went to the Marine House for their outdoor Easter egg hunt.  It's a great location since, as you can see, there's a tall, secure fence ringing the entire building.  You can relax and enjoy, and know that your kids won't wander off into traffic.  (Although I have since learned that small, devious and enterprising kids can actually slip through the bars, but I didn't know about this at Easter.  The photos on the couch are the only examples I have of the girls in their lovely Easter frocks, since April and May here in Kyiv are still quite chilly.

 

And below we have the aftermath of the hunt, once all of the eggs were gathered.  Like many of the littler kids here, who have largely grown up in an urban environment, the concept of "grass" is still exotic and foreign.  Lots of our playgroup buddies were interested in (or wholly suspicious of) the concept that you could sit in the grass and play, and that it wasn't dirty and full of cigarette butts and dog poop.

On that note, however, in one of the funnier moments, when the under-2s did their hunt, Miss G picked up not one single egg, but did hurry over to the garden, grab a cigarette butt and put it in her basket.  Her only contribution. In the event she needed to hunt and gather for a living, I think she wouldn't last long, although she'd probably figure out a way to organize the others to gather for her and then reap the rewards, as she did with her big sister's loot.

EGGS!

Poster child for Phila Horticultural Society!

OK, so older sister isn't in a flower dress, but I thought it was a nice picture, and worthy of inclusion.  In the other photos, the little Miss G is modeling a great dress covered in what I consider "'80s puffy paint" with lady bugs, flowers and bees.  When she put it on, all I could think was that GranDora and PHS would appove.  So enjoy the photos of my uncooperative model in her cute, cute (free) dress!

The Partridge Family

Rockin' out to '80s hair bands with the kids.  The photos actually look like we were more successful than the reality, which was that our "lead singer" kept stopping for a while, which makes the game re-set.  But I think we definitely have some Jackson 5 potential... if we had 2 more kids, more dysfunction and better rythym.

Bath time

It's hard to find a tasteful picture of your kids in the bath, but hopefully this won't offend anyone's sensibillities.  We have a great kidney-bean shaped Jacuzzi bath here, with glass doors that when closed provide a completely waterproof environment.  I can already see how this could be a problem when we move to a shower/bath that does not allow copious amounts of splashing without soaking the surrounding environment.  I like the photo below, as our youngest looks a little bit like Jack Nicholson in "The Shining."  She's a Miss Chief, that one is....

Home Amusement Park

Hanging at Home

Here is our budding chef, stirring her roux, which served as a base for a whole heap of mac and cheese that we made for our trip out to the Otchiy Dim orphanage. She really enjoys doing things in the kitchen, and it is a great test of my ability to take a deep breath and let things get messy and out of order and sometimes not quite perfect. We're both learning at the same time, I guess.And this little one is now big enough to start "sharing" toys with her sister. Here she is driving the big girl car!And here is proof that the car can not quite fit two girls. Actually, they did both almost fit at this point, but within a couple of weeks, with the growing spurt they are both going through, it wasn't possible anymore. But for a brief period, there was harmony and carpooling!

Halloween

Each year the Embassy hosts a Halloween party for the kids, as it isn't widely celebrated here in Ukraine. They hold it in my office building, and many of the offices get really into the process of decorating. (I do not as my office door is very remote and hard to find, and each year I have been out with the kids - I used to leave the older, single lawyer who works with me in charge of candy distribution. He didn't wear a costume as we figured that a U.S. Federal Prosecutor is scary enough as is!)

Now that Miss S is old enough to understand candy, we actually seem to get something out of the holiday. Conversely, now she knows when certain older people start eating her candy. So this year we had the following:

1 Princess - check!1 Lady bug - check!

1 Lacrosse player - check!1 Good sport father wearing the ladybug antennae.1 set of sisters "sharing" the candy. Which meant that S let her sister touch the candy, but not eat it. (I am in thebackground with my devil outfit...)

Ultramarine!

As the weather in Kyiv is pretty abysmal more than half of the year, there are a lot of great indoor playground for little kids. You do have to pay about $3/hour, but it's safe and fun and totally great for parents who want to hang out while their kids tire themselves out. When I was back on maternity leave during snowmageddon, I really wished we had more of these in the States, since bundling two kids into starfish outfits and enduring the bitter cold is not my idea of fun. Nor is hanging out in a mall with no playground.

Ultramarine is a two-story affair with a giant slide, an inflatable bouncy pad, 2 ball pits and numerous puzzles and little houses and small plastic things to play with. The kids always leave sweaty and exhausted. We went this time in the summer, and are joined by many of S's and G's friends, as you can see by the fact that the baby appears to be the most fun toy in the whole place. And that's Karyn in the background, my awesome Body Blast teacher, who has helped me shed two clothing sizes after the baby - love you, Karyn!

Life in Kyiv - What we do at home

Here are some shots of sisterly love, taken in early summer, so G is about 7 months. The sisters do get on well, with big showering little with love, and little, now that she's mobile, following big around with fascination and adoration in her eyes. Of course, since June things have altered slightly, now that the little one can start to poke and follow and take toys. We sometimes see less than sisterly reactions from the big sister, but hey - she's only 3, right?

And below is a typical dinner at the Mayhew household. Dad is a great cook, and we try to eat together whenever we can (M is at camp here, but you can see his chair.) And a shot of the high chair crowd, as well. It's never dull, I'll tell you that. Just getting 5 people to the same table at the same time is a feat worthy of award.

Super Godmommy!

My dear first daughter's godmother is wonderful. Well, that would be why I chose her, after all. Not only does she do what a godparent should, which is exemplify a good and decent way to live and act as a role model, but she showers her with gifts. And not only that, she is equal opportunity and makes sure to send gifts to all three kids, so no one feels unloved. (Which is good, since M has no godparents, and neither does little G yet.) So after a recent Skype conversation in which our two-year old went on about Angelina Ballerina, which I think she enjoys more for the onomatopeia of the name than the actual dancing, she received the dress and headband shown below in the mail. Tried them on immediately over her clothes - a very avant garde look. Well, maybe not in Kyiv, where fashion is in the eye of the beholder.

What makes me laugh about this photo is that she is just as interested in the bubble wrap as in the gift! And the arrival of the gift prompted me to get out a gift from two years ago, and see if it fit Miss G. And it does! She is a proud supporter of Kenyon college, her sister's godmommy's alma mater. And in the last photo, you can see big sister extemporizing about the virtues of a college education to an incredulous little sister. Or telling her the plot of the latest Dora the Explorer episode. Not clear...

See - he DOES smile!

In the beginning of June, I was invited to M's school to give a talk to upper school students on foreign assistance abroad, and a little bit about what I do. While I was waiting to go into the classroom, I happened to look out the window. What did I see? A happy teenager. I was glad that I had my camera with me, since such a sighting in the wild is a real rarity. Enjoy!