I'm a slacker

Okay... Basically, I am a blogger slacker. I have been so very busy that I haven't had a moment to sit down and even write about Gavin's 1st Birthday! Wow. What's been going on? Well...

House
We're still in the process of looking for a new place. We're looked at several places, and even found one we thought would be it. It wasn't. Then we found another one that we were going to take- it's very big but in need of some remont- and our leadership really wasn't comfortable with the situation, so...Back to square one.

Forum
Our annual field forum starts Saturday and I've been going like crazy trying to get the program together for the 9 preschoolers that will be there. Everything from snacks, crafts, lessons, etc. And I've been trying to get together photos of everyone that's not currently on the field (on home assignment) so I can get together a field pictorial directory after we take everyone else's pics at forum. I'm pretty happy with how they're turning out. I sure hope everyone else likes them. Very simple, but I think it works well. I really wanted to do this b/c there are so many people on our field, and so many children, that when you only see each other twice a year (forum in the spring, and retreat in the fall) it's so tough to keep everyone straight and remember who is in which city. So, really, it's for my own benefit!

Gavin is 1!
My little boy is already a whole year old. I know I say this all the time, but I'm really not sure where the time has gone. It seems like just yesterday he was an itty bitty baby...Okay, not sure 9lbs 9oz is really "itty bitty" but he was tiny to me! Now he's walking all over the place and talking up a storm. Not sure what he's say most of the time, but he's got some sign language down and says "mama", "dadda", "nyanya" (russian for nanny...He calls Inna that- not sure if she taught him that, or just reinforced it when he started babbling that...But either way) and he also says "di-e" (russian for "give")- We surely didn't teach him that one either, but, I have yet to meet a little kid here who doesn't say "give, give" with open hands all the time- so he fits right in!

Party
We had a wonderful birthday party for him- actually he had 2, lucky boy! Our team had a dinner- and I brought along his first Scooby Doo cake and hats for the kids- he enjoyed his first taste of chocolate cake! But he had to split this one with Mommy! We had his big party on Saturday, April 29th- his actual birthday. He had a great time! It started at 4:00 (the time he typically wakes up from his nap- an attempt to have a smiling boy the whole time!) There were 22 people in our little living room at one time- definitely an all time record! We had Scooby decorations around the house and a beautiful birthday banner. I had crafts for the older kids to do, and us adults hung out and enjoyed all the food I made. We even had pepperoni rolls that I made with real American pepperoni (thanks for my mom for sending it)! The first pepperoni we've had in almost a year! And of course, another Scooby cake! The highlight of the afternoon was definitely the "scooby snack" pinata I made- the kids had so much fun- especially the children of our Russian friends- b/c they don't have anything like pinatas at birthday parties! Gavin had a great time playing with everyone- laughed and giggled the whole time! Everyone said how surprised they were that he didn't cry or fuss the whole time. Guess, he's going to be a social guy like his dad! It was such a wonderful day- spending time with our close friends. The other thing, in addition to the pinata, that our russian friends thought was strange, was that we gave our guests 'treat bags'- they all said that it was strange to give gifts to the guests. Birthday parties here are a whole different story- when it's your birthday, you throw yourself a party. You do all the cooking and preparing, and it's usually a meal, not just snack foods. We had the privilege of going to Inna's party on Monday, just days after Gavins.

Inna's Party
I have to admit, I was a little nervous b/c I wouldn't know anyone there- it was all her family! She has 6 brothers and 1 sister...plus all their spouses and children! May 1st was her 35th birthday and it is also her mothers birthday- she turned 74! We ended up having a great time- her family is fantastic and they all enjoyed Gavin immensely- apparently she talks about him all the time. I am very thankful that he is not a picky eater- he ate most of my portion of "sel-ee-ode-ka-pod-shoe-ba" (literally meaning salty fish in a fur coat) but resembling nothing of the sort! It's a layered salad of salted fish, mayo, shredded potatoes, and shredded beets- yum! She had also made crab salad and "oliviye"- russian potato salad. The highlight of the meal was the layered dish, that I thought was ground beef with seasoned mayo inbetween...only to later find out that it was chopped liver! yum.

Computer
Basically, our computer is overworked and underpaid. I hasn't been working right for over a month now, and pretty much just quit on us yesterday. Won't turn off, won't hibernate, nothing. Ahh...so frustrating. We, unfortunately, paid way to much for a computer to have it die on us so soon! One of us is one it all the time, except when we're in school- especially lately as we're trying to get stuff done before forum and JB's trying to get several DVD's done to send back with the VBS team that is coming over from the states- to do VBS for the older kids. So- I'll keep you updated, but I just pray it isn't fried beyond repair.

Car
I think we've bought a car! We went last weekend to look at vehicles at the car market and found a Ford Escape that would be perfect for us- big enough for JB, but small enough for me to drive. It came straight from NJ, USA with only 40,000 miles- for the perfect price. We were able to talk him down to a better price and then JB and Stas went to finalize the deal tonight. He's the kicker...JB ran the VIN # online just to check it out- apparently it was sold in NJ with 94,000 miles on it! The joys of living in Russia...you never know what you're really getting! Stas was floored to find out that we could access that info, especially so quickly! There is something to say about laws and how they actually work sometimes! Sure enough, after looking at the copy of the title the guy had, it said there were 94,000 miles on it! I love life! So, when JB goes to the police station to pay for the car tomorrow morning, we will be the proud owners of a vehicle!!! Gavin, here comes the car seat...say good bye to the days of riding on moms lap!

I'm sure there is more, I'll try to update one more time before we leave for Anapa. And I'll make every effort to post some birthday pics, but this entry is already waaaayyy too long!