So...How Are Things REALLY?

Hello from the Hoods!

We have had such an eventful first semester of school that I do not even know where to begin. First, let me say that we are sorry for not updating everyone more. As you can imagine, we do not have a spare minute and when those infrequent times do come, we are so tired we certainly do not want to look at a computer!!

The kids are doing great! School has gone very well and our first report cards were good. Christian made all A's and Olivia made A's and B's. The reading has gone very well and we are so very proud of their progress. In August, spelling tests were such a challenge that we would spend hours every day writing 10 senetences. Now, Olivia and Christian can formulate their own ideas and sentences and Jerry and I check the grammar. We held off on any sports or activities until we knew more about how school was going to go. Now that things have gone so well, I feel sure that we will be moving in that direction. Christian's class just celebrated Christmas Around the World and his class chose Ukriane. He has the opportunity to share pictures, food, music , etc. with all of his classmates. He actually stood in front of his class and presented pictures from Ukriane. That was HUGE!!

Daniel and Vica have made HUGE progress. We have seen the most change in Daniel. He is incredibly verbal and talks ALL the TIME. He is perpetual motion-literally!! He also gets in the most trouble of the four. We work really hard on not being silly at school, but school has been a place the he loves and had thrived. Vica is no longer a baby! She has become such a little girl and is so confident. Her speech has improved considerably and talks just like any other three year old! She even has a southern drawl!!

The kids have fallen in love with football and they even go to sleep asking to watch practice film at night. Halloween was sooo much fun! Olivia was genie, Christian a ninja, Daniel was Batman, and Vica was a cheerleader!! We ate candy for a month! Thanksgiving was also great and we celebrated by having our family join us at our home for a huge meal. Christmas has been incredible so far!! We have celebrated with both sides of our families and the kids are having hte best time!! Even if Santa doesn't come, we have had a great Christmas!! The children actually knew about Christmas, and knew that it was Baby Jesus' birthday. They are so excited about Santa and we have been blessed to have an "Elf on the Shelf" living with us this year. The Elf has been a huge reinforcement for good behavior!! Our elf flies to talk to Santa every night and the family goes on a scavenger hunt every morning to see where he landed after his long flight! It has been sooo much fun!!

We had some pictures made for Christmas that I have posted so that you can see how much they have changed. Olivia has gained about 12 pounds and grown 2 inches. She has grown up in just 8 months. It is amazing! Christian has gained about 10 pounds and has the best hair ever! We love his curls! He is so smart that we really have to stay on our toes with him! Daniel has gained about 8 pounds and has grown about an inch. His left eye has straightened thanks to his new glasses! We are still working on his vision in his left eye but we believe that in the next 6 months we will see major improvements! Daniel also had 9 teeth removed this past summer which led to 2 temporary bridges. The bridges will be removed when his "big" teeth come in. Needless to say, we LOVE our dentist!! His movement has gotten so much better and he is now beginning to write his letters! We could not even hold a pencil 8 months ago! Vica is now officially a little girl! She loves to take pictures and loves football almost as much a Christian! She has maintained her weight but has grown a ton! It is amazing to look at pictures from 8 months ago and see different children.

We talk about Ukraine all the time. We speak of it fondly and have learned a lot from the kids. They tell us all the time how happy they are which makes us feel great! We are exhahusted but very happy! I am sitting here trying to blog with Christian and Vica beside me on the sofa, Daniel dancing in front of me, and Olivia entertaining her spend-the-night company. There are times that we are completely overwhelmed and then we remember how quiet our lives were 10 months ago. We are truly thankful for the chaos -including the house that is a complete disaster!!We are still trying to figure out how Santa is going to get everything done on Christmas Eve!!!

We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and holiday season!! Thank you again for keeping up with the Hoods!!

Merry Christmas!

Amanda