My Boy

Brandon is 8 but almost 9. And he still takes and holds my hand when we walk in the school parking lot to the car. (big grin on my face) :) Love him to pieces!

Dreaming of Basketball?

So after player-parent game Brandon asked to fall asleep in my bed. When it was time for him to head over, I quietly tried to sort of awake him up so he could walk. He grabbed blanket away from me and said:
- Mom, I want to finish watching it.
I chuckled and came back about 10 minutes later. This time I brought the blanket over to his bed and tried to awake him up. No response. I picked him up and tried to carry his dead weight body. While I was carrying him over, he asked me in his sleep:
- Mom, I need my basketball jersey and stuff please, okay?
I agree:
- Okay.
Brandon still in his sleep:
- Thank you.

I loved, loved it. Even in his sleep my boy still shows good manners just like in real love. Love me some him!

Basketball Parents Vs. Players

What a fun, fun night! I have never played basketball in my life and in about 20 minutes of our warm up I was running like crazy trying to make baskets. Lots of parents and siblings, lots of pizza boxes :)

When we started the game, there were no referee, 5 people playing first 5 minutes, then switch to another group of 5 and so on. When I got to play, it was very funny because I was not paying any slight attention to the side we were on so I made a basket. But for the kids. Sort of embarrassing and plain funny.

Brandon was really good, when he was covering me, there was no way I could score. And when him and Jimmy were on the field, he stole a ball right from his Dad. Seemed like we all had fun that night :)

Brandon having his well deserved break while

 Was it Jimmy-Brandon game? :)

 May be it was

 Shirts were given all the players and coaches. Cool!

Top Row: Coach Shillow, Coach Yeakle, Coach Bibb Aka Dad
2nd Row: Davin David, Ethan, Blake, Jared and Matt
Front Row: Brandon-Bear, Wyatt, Landon, Jason

Result and Closing Sochi Olympics

That was my most favorite part. All those people were dressed in shiny silver clothes and moved like fish, composing different shapes of themselves. 

Pretty!

I thought the whole idea with no opening ring from opening ceremony was pretty classy, looks like producers laughed at themselves :)

Participants from different countries

There was pianist playing with portraits of Russian writers all over. It is like having history lesson. I loved it.

No Russia without ballet

 Fireworks were amazing!

I am so so so proud of my own country who made an astonishing show and more than that - all the medals that Russia won!

WHERE Does It Come From?

Today Brandon asked very out of blue: (while having supper):
- Mom, can monkeys be constipated?
- Ummm..I would think so. Why are you asking?
Brandon gets completely crazy, raises his hands yelling:
- I am a constipated monkey (dancing around)..

I should have filmed it and then show it to his first girlfriend :)

2nd Marking Period Report Cards

I met with Ms. Dentler for the conference and she really did not tell me anything new at this point. Kyra's progress for this period was yes, outstanding, as she noted. 

She is at the level 16 for reading whle expectations are level 8 right now. She just needs to work on sequencing events when she retells the story. That is the biggest part on what she needs to concentrate on right now.

As always, only good. Mrs. Weimer put him a special comment saying he had a high level of thinking. Who would be arguing with that?? :) She said he understands concepts of math very quickly, very fast learner, he always has positive attitude, he is responsible and helpful.

Who Would You Want To Be

- Kyra, if you could chose who you wanted to be - a dog or a cat, who would you be?
- A cat.
- Why?
- Because when I need to go to the bathroom, then I do not need to come outside when it is thunder and lightning.
I can not argue with this logic! :)

Who, Who Is Dr. Bartlett?

Me and Kyra were playing "Beat the parents" game. One of the questions for her was: "What do you call a children's doctor?" I see she she struggling to remember, so I remind her:
- It starts with the letter P.
Kyra:
- Paleontologist!

Sleepy Princess In My Bed

Aha!

Seriously. I do not know what it was about. (except that at this age they are both only all about butts, butts and more butts)

Shank Park Sledding

I used to sled on those big hills all the time when I was little. Not those guys yet. That day was the day. I stayed home with them and after lunch we headed to Shank park with the Specks. Somehow we managed to meet William and his family there as well so kids had a lot of friends to sled with. Brandon even tried snowboarding once. We spent there unbelievably 2.5 hours and after that kids were so exhausted! Good times!

Valentines For The Kids

A night before Valentine's day we put them all over the house and kids had fun looking for them in the morning. Some of them were easy to find (on the stairs) and some were more difficult (like jacket pockets)

Those are for Kyra. Top from me and bottom from Jimmy. Her fav were: Rawr and Favorite girl in the whole world :)

 Brandon's Jimmy's on the top and mine are on the bottom. Fun! :)

Another Snowstorm

Am I not tired of writing about them? :) Another one and hopefully the last one for this year. Noone went to work or school. Even Pop. Jimmy's work was closed entirely. I think our office was closed too. What I like about working in casino is when there was that bad storm last week, it was decided that everyone who did not come to work due to the storm will not be punished with the points. Today, for everyone who made it to work there is free lunch in Take 5. Employees' safety is truly the first. Love it!

Child labor :) he did an awesome job! (love footprints :)

 Kyra is digging to the middle of the earth

 Brandon's snowman

Baskteball Player

Brandon got to be PG - point guard for his team. Proud of him. He works so hard! In one game which the team lost considerably (4-23 because Hershey team did not have enough players so they pulled one from travel team who dominated the entire game). Good thing is that Brandon was the one out of two who made the baskets for their team.

First Ever Ice Skating

Kyra's classmate Lauren competes in ice skating and she invited Kyra to try it too. Apparently, they have a class once in a while when they are allowed to bring a friend, so Kyra is in. Since she never tried it before (only rollerskating), I took her to Hersheypark Arena to try. 

I wonder if everyone stands on the skates as soon as they put them on? I do not know/remember. But that is what she did. She walked on her own to the ice and first, was holding to the sides. For about one full circle. Then she wanted me to let her go. She was getting frustrated at some point why she could not slide but only walk, but by 3rd-4th circle she was, still awkwardly, but on doing it on her own. She was very determined to do it with no help from me. Sounds SO like her :) 

I did not have time for proper skating myself, but I had fun watching her. Love her to pieces!

K-y-r-a Is Having EmmaOver (to The Tune of Sofia the First's Sleepover Song)

Oh they are so cute together! They played, played and played. First, we going to take Emma home at 10am, then they asked to stay till lunch time, then until I needed to take Brandon for his playdate with Corey and Kyra to ice skating.

When I dropped Emma off at her house, she did not want to let Kyra go. She just kept hugging and hugging her. So sweet! :) How nice to have a BFF close by!

What A Big Girl She Is!

It only took an icy storm and power out so we could go to the hotel where Kyra would use hairdryer all by herself without being scared of it. She LOVES standing at the mirror and turn around watching herself doing her hair this way and that way. Did I mention she is only 7???

No Power, No School, No Work

After that snowstorm we had, just to show us who is the master of the universe, mother nature threw another thing for us - icy storm. There was so much of it, that our tree branches were hanging down to the ground. First we had power flicking a few times, then it went off completely. We got a call from school saying that since the school does not have power, there will not be classes the next day.

It was getting darker and colder. We were not sure when we would get power back so we called Main Stay in Grantville and headed there for the night. I have to say that even with part-time job for me and full time job for Jimmy it is pretty stressful. I missed so much work with all those delays/school cancellations that it is not even funny anymore.

Tonya told me to just take care of the family first. Kids, certainly, did not mind being off school and swimming in the pool in the middle of winter. They surely had fun. Kyra, just like in summer, does not notice cold. As soon as her feet are in the water, here she goes to the top of her head.

 Our sleepy heads slept together. So cute!Brandon's eyes are open, as always

The next morning we heard from school that power most likely will not be restored yet tomorrow so we started thinking down the line to see if we need another night in the hotel. We drove home, worried about pipes which, were okay, we packed more clothes stuffed, got Nana and Pop with Oreo to come to the hotel as well.

What fun for the kids! :) When we heard about 6pm that power was on (what a surprise!), kids begged us to stay here in the hotel another night. Neither of us wanted but we gave in for their sake just to realize that Brandon wanted to go home with Nan and Pop that night to spend the night at their house.

We all packed and headed home. It seemed like that by that time we have not been in the house forever. How lovely it was to sleep in our own beds! I never missed home here so much before! School and work tomorrow!

XXII Winter Olympics Came to Sochi, Russia!

I was very excited to watch the opening! Just because it is Olympics and just because they are in my home country!!!! I have been to Sochi when I was almost 8, right before starting school. I remember warmth, palm trees, hot dry air, my first ever plane ride, first seeing sea which was very salty.

I can only guess how much they have done to prepare for Olympics in Sochi. There are different information online on how far they went to do what needed to be done, not sure how much to believe though.

This was the first time Russia hosted winter Olympics, so the opening was really breathtaking.  I am looking at some website to get numbers for this opening ceremony and it is plain crazy - 9,000 people worked on high-tech, pyrotechnic performance.

Me and Kyra were snuggling on the couch watching all the countries come in. We brought world map with us so we could see where the country is located, how big it was and what language people there spoke. Great geography lesson!

"The two-and-a-half hour show took us on a riveting 18-part roller-coaster ride through Russian history, from the times of ancient Russia to the modern era, presenting spectators highlights of Russian culture. Accompanied by the music of great Russian composers like Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky, Prokofiev and Sviridov, it portrayed the path Russia took to become the country it is now.

The unique feature of the parade was a special floor where an image of the earth was magically projected. The stunt included a smooth touch: An image of the globe from outer space rotated every time a new country was announced, pinpointing the location of that country.

The athletes appeared from the heart of their respective nations and then walked into the stadium.

All countries were introduced in alphabetical order according to their Russian spelling. Per tradition, Greece - the birthplace of Olympic competition - was the first to enter the stadium.

As host country, Russia took the stage last, marching to the upbeat dance song "Not gonna get us" by t.A.T.u., a Russian pop girl band extremely popular in the mid-2000s, and the country’s most successful pop export to the world.

Following the hour-long parade of more than 3,000 athletes, who will be taking part in almost 100 events, the dazzling show began. Dancers, actors and singers took the audience on a magnificent voyage through Russian history.

The main idea of the ceremony were the dreams of a little girl named Lyuba - meaning 'love' in Russian - who sees Russia and its history in different periods.

The actors on stage reenacted episodes from Russia’s history as well as most beloved folk tales, mesmerizing the audience. One of the most elegant and enchanting moments of the opening ceremony was the ballet reenactment of Natasha’s first ball from the Leo Tolstoy’s timeless novel ‘War and Peace.’

The ceremony’s fiery finale featured over 3,500 fireworks. The average weight of the firecrackers was around 22.5 tons, while the heaviest weighed in at 4.8 tons.

During the Games athletes will compete in over 15 disciplines in seven sports. Twelve new events have been slotted into the crowded Olympic schedule, including the figure skating team event, slopestyle and half-pipe skiing (both men’s and women’s).

Over the next 16 days a record number of Olympic medals will be presented – a total of 98 sets, that is 12 more than in Vancouver 2010. Each gold medal weighs 531g, while silvers are 525g and the bronzes are 460g"

Fireworks!

Another Kyra Milestone

I know, it might not be a big deal, but I think it is. She now can cut her own nails on her left hands and both feet. She still struggles with having her hand straight but nevertheless, she can do! Who said all the milestones are for babies only?

Lego Club Again

Brandon had to miss a few but here is the first class. Kids could make whatever they wanted. Brandon is interested in Russia and Minecraft. Here you go, great combination!

Wise Hidings

Because of all those emegency situations in other schools all over the country, kids are now taught what to do in case of "lockdown" as Mr. Gnall would have to announce through the system if "an intruder" comes in. It is so sad that so many times, just absolutely randomly, Kyra was telling me how she would have hide here and there if someone comes. When we were walking out of the middle school to go to the bathroom from the gym, she looked at the bleachers and said how secure she would have felt if she needed to hide. Sad what the world comes to!

Another Snow Storm

I think now kids' days off for designated for snow are going into summer vacation. We are also expecting icy storm two days from now and another snow storm in 5 days. Is not that enough?

 Snow falling

 Pretty

 Looks so vintage :)