In search of Christmas traditions

Merry Christmas!

This year, we didn't manage to procure a tree until the 24th, and we didn't get her decorated until after dinner on Christmas Day. Placing all the shiny balls on the tree was a fun way to spend Christmas evening. Perhaps that will become a new tradition? Our family is so new, we're still in the tradition-forming stage. Another thing we're trying this year: We only opened stockings Christmas morning. We're saving gifts for New Year's (the traditional gift-giving holiday in Ukraine).

This Christmas was the most unlike any other Christmas in my life. With so little lead-up to the Big Day (no Advent wreath at church, no weekly carols, lots of distracting, work-related stress), I feel almost like it was the start of Advent. I seem more fixated on the Incarnation now than I did just before the holiday. I hope next year that we will find ways, as a family, to create an Advent season in our home.

On to the pictures ... here are some of Dietrich's reactions to seeing a Real Tree in our living room:






And, for comparison's sake, this year's family photo in front of the tree, and last year's.

It snowed today

We bundled up and went outside to play in the fluffy white stuff, before it turns into dirty gray slush.



Dietrich looks like he's a steady walker here ...



but he actually spent a lot of time like this ...



... and like this. In fact, he spent so much time on the ground that we were only able to spend about 10 minutes (i.e. the same amount of time it takes us to get ready to go outside) playing before snow started to creep down his back.



Someday he'll be big enough to play on the jungle gym outside our house, but for now he can just hang out underneath it.

A new way to procure produce

Last night, we took the baby to a big toy store near the center of Kyiv. To get there, we took the bus to the metro. Along the way, the bus stopped at a nearby outdoor market, and after waiting a few moments, it started to pull away, until an elderly lady yelled through the still-open doors for it to stop.

She has been selling her produce in the market, and had two big bags and a heavy cart worth of unsold carrots, beets and potatoes to lug home. She got the bags on, then tackled the cart, but it was huge and unwieldy, and it flopped over onto its side. She asked a man standing near the door for help, but he refused. Several other young guys sat back and observed this poor woman's efforts. One of them clearly was on a date, and to his companion, who kindly gave her seat to the elderly lady, I say, "Run away!"

Anyway, Eric had the baby in the Bjorn, so I helped her drag the cart up the stairs. She and I picked up the produce that fell out in the process and settled back down for the ride. When the bus arrived at the metro station, we helped carry her things off the bus.

Of course we didn't expect anything in return. In fact, we didn't WANT anything in return. We were happy to help. But she insisted on rewarding us. With carrots!

Gearing up

The next Talbot session starts tomorrow. One of the teachers arrived last night, and we enjoyed getting to know him over a pot of chili and a chocolate-cinnamon cake. It will be a really busy two weeks, so I'm quite thankful that Christmas lies on the other side.

I sent the most-recent edition of SEND's Harvest Heartbeat to the printer on Friday. That always feels good. And tomorrow we're having a "celebration and evaluation" brunch with all the ladies who helped put on the women's conference. We'll read the evaluations that the attendees filled out to help us improve the next conference. So, after that brunch, two of the big things that occupied my fall will lie squarely in the past. Ah, accomplishment, I love you so. Especially when so many other things (two seminary brochures, convincing Dietrich that food is his friend) remain distinctly un-accomplished.

It's cold outside! But our new apartment is so much warmer than the old one. No hats and gloves inside, unless we're getting ready to go outside, as in this picture:

Thanksgiving excursion

Our family, sorely in need of some time away together, spent Thanksgiving weekend with our friends Jon and Andrea Hoglund. They live in Kremenchuk, an enjoyable city about five hours from Kyiv by train. Kremenchuk lies on the banks of the Dnieper River — the same river that cuts through Kyiv — and Jon and Andrea's lovely apartment is just a short walk from the water. I consider it a great place of respite.

It was a good, though not necessarily an easy, weekend. Talking with like-minded friends helped us identify and clarify some of the areas we, as a family, need to work on – namely, finding balance between ministry and family time while still making sure that we're all fulfilling God's purpose for our lives in Ukraine.

Dietrich also got his first Band-Aid this weekend after he reached into the trash and touched the raw chicken package, then, while having raw chicken washed from his fingers, he reached for daddy's razor. Despite our best efforts to secure the bandage, he promptly pulled it off. With his teeth.



Apart from the difficult realizations and the minor wound, we made some lovely memories. Some of my favorites:

1) Getting to know Joy, Jon and Andrea's 2-year-old daughter. We've actually known Joy since she was six weeks old, but in the past couple of months her vocabulary has grown significantly. All of a sudden, she's able to express her opinions, to sing, to express her love and joy in whole new ways. She's a delightful little girl, and it was so fun to hang out with her.

2) Watching — and listening — as Dietrich got to know Joy. They've been hanging out periodically since Dietrich was born, but now they're at the point where they'll run off and play together for some time, no parental supervision required. The best such moment: All the grownups were sitting around the table after dinner one night when, all of a sudden, we started hearing wild laughter coming from Joy's room. There'd be a moment of silence, then the giggles would start up again. What was so funny? Good question. Wish I could have been a fly on that wall.



3) Taking Dietrich for a walk — his first big outdoor, on-foot excursion — on the big square outside the Hoglund's apartment. The square is about the size of a football field, and the only thing on it is a huge statue of Lenin. Dietrich loved wandering all around it, until we pointed out the birds in the sky. Then, when he fell down, he was content just to tip his head back and look for the birdies.

Dietrich's approach to walking sheds a lot of light on his personality. You're probably familiar with the image of a mom walking behind her little one, holding his hands up in the air to help balance him. I thought I would be that mom, but Dietrich has never wanted us to help him walk. He's independent, determined and tenacious. He falls, tries to get up, falls in the process, tries to get up, falls in another direction — but no matter. He just keeps plugging away at the standing process until he's solidly on his feet. And then he's off!



4) Dietrich's enthrallment with Jon and Andrea's cat. Which, I'm sorry to say, outsmarted our little guy pretty easily. Dietrich would chase Winston into the bedroom and under the bed. Whilst Dietrich got down on his belly to catsearch, Winston would run out the other side and into a safer room. In the middle of the night, Winston climbed up on a should-be-sleeping Dietrich and me, and Dietrich looked right at him and said, "Ca." Or, possibly, that was a dream.

Two out of three

Hoping to buy ourselves a few more minutes in bed on Thanksgiving morning, we ask: "Hey, Dietrich, can you bring us a duck?"

He toddles off and returns with a rubber ducky.

"Good job! Now, can you bring us a fish?"

Off he goes, and a fish joins the duck. "Cool," we're thinking. "He totally understands English." So we try again.

"Dietrich, can you bring us an elephant?"

Out the door, into the bathroom, and back he comes with ... another duck.

Conference time

Kyiv Theological Seminary's biennial conference for women in ministry starts tomorrow. It seems like just yesterday that we started planning, yet here it is, almost reality. Yay!

I'm really excited about this year's speaker (SEND missionary and all-around-lovely-woman Sherri Divozzo) and theme (Renovating Your Relationships). Sherri and her husband, Bob, teach conflict-resolution seminars throughout Ukraine, but this is the first time Sherri's stepped out on her own to teach the course. We expect about 60 ladies to come, which means that they'll take these valuable relationship-building tools back to about that many Ukrainian churches.

The theme of renovation coincides perfectly with current Ukrainian culture. "Remont" (renovation in Russian) is everywhere. It seems every apartment is a construction zone -- new windows, wallpaper, wood floors, pipes, etc. We have two huge Home Depot-style stores in our region (and they're packed, even midweek), plus several nearby outdoor markets that specialize in construction materials.

My main focus was on "the look" of the event -- decorations, name tags, notebooks and such. We spent most of today out at the conference center setting up, so here's a sneak peek. I'll try to post photos of the actual conference after it ends.


The decorations combine construction materials with fall colors. The conference center is brand new (I think we're the third conference to be held there), and it's very nicely designed with huge windows that let in great natural light.


These toolboxes are the centerpieces on the tables, along with some candles and fall foliage. Each day, the ladies will open the boxes to find a gift waiting inside.


At the front of the dining hall and the meeting room, our teammate John built a wall. Half of the wall is papered with old, ripped wallpaper. The other half has lovely new wallpaper on it. Our speaker plans to use wallpapering as an analogy in her lessons.


Dietrich spent the day exploring the conference center.

Thanks, grandmas

Dear Grandma Cindy,

Thanks for my new jacket. I wore it to the zoo this weekend. I saw lots of animals, but I only really care for the birds and the buffalo. Also, at the zoo, I took my first outdoor steps. It's hard walking in real shoes!

love,
Dietrich O.


Dear Baba Jane,

Thanks for my fuzzy sheep. I really think it's nice to rest my head on while I sleep. I'm glad you got to go to New Zealand to buy it for me.

love,
Dietrich O.

Warp-speeding into toddlerhood

This week, Dietrich learned to walk, to click his tongue, to kiss and to drink from a cup. Momma can barely keep up!

Suddenly, Kyiv feels rather empty

I logged on to our e-mail this morning only to find a message announcing that, due to medical difficulties, a family on our field plans to return to the States for treatment. Will they be back? They hope so, but they don't know.

Such announcements have become far too common in the past seven months. Six SEND Ukraine families have returned to the States for various medical reasons. Two of those families have decided to leave the field; the other four are being treated and are waiting to see whether they'll be able to return.

Would you pray that God would graciously allow these dear co-workers to continue to serve with us? And please ask the Lord to protect and guide the rest of our team, and the work that we're doing here.

A month ago ...

Yesterday, the baby turned 13 months old. There was no cake. But there was occasion to look back at last month's celebration, at which there was ice cream cake. Yummy! Messy!



We also took the birthday baby to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach last month. It was perfect! At the aquarium, the fish are 1) trapped in a small space and 2) always moving. We've also taken D to two zoos, and it's fun, but the animals often just sit and stare, so we aren't really sure that Dietrich realizes they are alive.

Some things

Happy thing: The Christian Education brochure I've been working on for the past two weeks has been delivered to the printer, just in time for a big conference for folks who work with children. I hope it attracts many new students to the seminary.

Sad thing: The Angels' loss on Sunday brought baseball season to an end in the Oldenburg household. I miss America's pastime already.

Exciting thing: The Saucy family is visiting, and staying with us, this week. They'll be here in just a few hours.

Home again, home again

To all of you who check this page frequently, I apologize for the extended silence. We moved, we unpacked, the semester started, and then we were off to America for family vacation. (This trip brought to you by Dietrich's generous grandparents.)

Now we're back, I've started working at the seminary a bit, and I just got up after the third straight night of baby jetlag. I have a mere two minutes before I must get going, so hopefully this photo will whet your appetite for more tales from Trip to America 2007.


Dietrich picks a baby elephant's nose at the San Francisco Zoo. We love zoos, and try never to go on a vacation without taking one in. The SF Zoo is a great size for strolling on a weekday morning, plus you get to drive along the ocean to get there and exotic birds roam freely around the grounds.

Today I'm thanking God for ...

... the fact that, 34 years ago today, my honey, the love of my life, was born. He was a tiny preemie, yet God allowed him to grow up into the strong, solid man with whom I get to share this adventure of a life. Thirty-three was a big year for Eric — new job, new apartment, new baby — and I pray that in his 34th year, we will remain keenly aware of God's numerous blessings in our lives.

We're moved

Thursday's move went really well! We had a team of people at each apartment, plus a cleaning team at the old apartment. We started at 8 a.m., and were done by 11:30, but some folks stuck around for pizza and to help us situate furniture in the new place. Once again, we rejoice to work with such wonderful people who are willing to sacrifice their day to scrub and to carry heavy stuff.

So far, the kitchen, living room and Dietrich's room are clean and set up. I'd wanted to get the bathroom done this weekend, but the stomach flu came for a visit last night, so today was spent primarily prone.

Dietrich's room turned out so cute. It was such a joy to finally set up a nursery for him. I'll post pictures later, when it doesn't hurt to stand.

Answering mom's query

The other day, my mom asked what's in season here. Well, Sunday, I went to the market and bought the pictured produce to get us through Moving Day. I resisted buying a tomato the size of Dietrich's head, because I knew I wouldn't eat it in time. I love summer in Ukraine!

Moving day approaches

It's chaos around here as we get closer to saying goodbye to this apartment. Earlier this week, we moved two guest beds, four bookshelves and about 30 boxes to the new place. And yet, much remains to be boxed.

This has been my least-organized move ever. I started packing about a months ago, before we found a place, so I started with things I wouldn't need for the month. Lots of boxes are filled with a random collection of items, like books, winter boots, tiny baby clothes and cake pans. And now I'm down to the stuff that didn't fit anywhere else. So, my next box is likely to include an ice bucket, a fish bowl, our wedding album and a hot-water bottle. This should make unpacking interesting.

This morning I found a stash of contact lenses that I never wear. Out of guilt for even buying them, I popped in a pair. The feeling of a thousand tiny pinpricks on my eyeballs, coupled with the irritating dryness, reminded my why I never should have bought them in the first place. My eyes simply don't like contacts.

Yesterday we tried to take care of all the paperwork associated with the new apartment. We actually made great progress, but one guy who has to sign off on the rental agreement wasn't working, so we'll be back to it on Monday.

Also, yesterday Dietrich started standing without holding on to anything. Quick, let's move before he starts walking!

Ah, how I look forward to the evening of August 2 (Moving Day), when all the packing and moving is done, and we just have the fun part (setting up a new home) to look forward to.

Dietrich's clearly excited about that, too:

A little friend for Dietrich

An update on Sergei and Natasha, the sweet pregnant couple who also are looking for an apartment. Well, they're no longer pregnant! They met their son yesterday, and mom and baby are doing just fine. Sergei is a very dedicated photographer; he's always got his camera out, documenting life. From the lovely pictures he's already posted, it's clear that this will be one beautifully photographed baby.

Happy birthday, Uncle Sam

From what we could tell from far away, you were really good at being 26. You earned a promotion, you put on a beautiful wedding, you asked good questions that will help you grow in your faith, you lavished love on your little nephew, you brought me candy in the hospital and you proved yourself to be a great husband. So, maybe you should just rest this year.

love,
sam miller's big sister

Apartment update

Last night we met with the apartment owners, and it was a great meeting. We really like the apartment; it's just exactly what we were hoping for. We have a verbal agreement with the landlords (a Ukrainian woman who grew up in the apartment and her American husband, the son of a missionary doctor who serves in Kyiv), but nothing's been signed yet.

As we've been looking for a place, I've appreciated the prayer in Proverbs 30:8 — "Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion." We prayed for an apartment that was neither too nice nor not nice enough, neither too big nor too small for the ministry that God wants us to do there.

It seems to us that the apartment we looked at yesterday perfectly fits that description:

It has four rooms (one big bedroom, one medium bedroom and one tiny bedroom, plus a living room) and a nice-sized kitchen, but is overall not a lot bigger than the apartment we have now.

It's in very nice condition with some very groovy wallpaper choices, a blue-and-yellow bathroom (those who have known me a long time know of my proclivity toward that color scheme; in fact, our towels are blue and yellow) and a long, covered balcony.

It looks out over the play area outside the building, which is also in good condition – better than the playground at our current place.

In addition to being at a bus stop, it's also right by a tram stop. I never take the tram because it's rather slow and there's a bus stop much closer to our current place, but I've got a feeling that a 2-year-old Dietrich might think a tram ride is something pretty special.

Eric and I both quickly came to love the place — no small feat for two minds that work as differently as ours sometimes do. So, we're thrilled and hopeful that, come August 1, we can start living our lives there.

Yay team!

We work with a great team of people here in Kyiv. Yesterday I was particularly thankful for them and encouraged by how we help and support one-another.

Our collective task: To pack Doctor Mark Saucy's office at Kyiv Theological Seminary — his extensive theological library and files – and some precious things from the Saucy family's apartment. (The Saucys, for those who don't know, have moved home so that Bonnie can battle a recurrence of cancer.)

We sent out an e-mail asking for help at each location, and almost every family that's in town for the summer sent at least one helper, plus our director's wife kept us fortified with slices of delicious blueberry coffee cake.

When the seminary group ran out of tape, someone's son was summoned to run to the store. When Dietrich was threatening to break the crystal vases, a co-worker scooped him up and kept him occupied until all the vases were safely bubble-wrapped.

And when one family's son fell and cut his leg to the bone, the team quickly adjusted. His dad left to go to the hospital, one of the families that has a car drove them and a member of the packing crew headed over to the driver's apartment to await the delivery of that family's refrigerator.

Thanks to all this cheerful help, four hours after we started, the hallways were lined with boxes, ready to be shipped.

Yay team!

In other matters: We got a good lead on an apartment, and we'll go see it Monday. I talked with the landlady yesterday and came away with a great impression. Here's the description we were sent:

"4 room 90 sq m APARTMENT FOR RENT! Fully furnished, in great condition with fresh remodeling! Great for family or office! Large, spacious designed wooden kitchen (15 sq. meters!) w/lots of storage space. Living room is big with lg enclosed balcony and extra storage space. Warm wooden floors thruout. 3 bedrooms/offices with windows all facing cozy yard. Sweet neighbors. Access to the entrance is by magnetic key or for those without keys, by calling up thru intercom system and being buzzed up. Cheap cable high-speed internet access. Playground for children in the yard. Forest, attraction park, track, soccer field, outdoor gym, beautiful lakes – all a 3 min walk. Lg outdoor market within 7 min walk. Supermarkets, shops, barber, drycleaner's, pharmacies, post office – all within 3-5-min walk. Convenient public transport bus and tram stop in front of building."

We can see this apartment out of Dietrich's bedroom window. It's a five-minute walk from our current place, and right across the street from the seminary. I have a really good feeling about it.

For those who are praying about this, you might also ask the Lord to provide an awesome place for Sergei and Natasha. He's the Academic Dean at the seminary, and Natasha was the registrar, though she's currently one week away from delivering a precious baby, so she will be taking some time off. They need to move soon after the baby is born. Sergei frequently posts here. This is a very challenging time to find affordable housing in Kyiv, and the situation affects many of our co-workers.

Too tired for squash

What with church this morning and a visit with friends this afternoon, Dietrich didn't get his normal naps. The result:



No progress so far in the apartment search. If you're the praying type, please pray that God would provide the perfect place as quickly as possible. We greatly desire to complete the move by July 22, as we already had a very packed last week of July planned, even before we knew about the move.

On the road again

We're moving. Where? We don't know. Our landlady came by today; she's moving back in on August 1. So the hunt for a new apartment begins. Thankfully, one of our SEND co-workers works with a Ukrainian rental agent to find apartments. Here's hoping they find something great. And near a market. And not too far from church. Or the seminary. Or the bus stop.

Though we haven't really enjoyed interacting with our landlady, we have loved our apartment. Not only is it near everything on the list above, you also can see the sunset and some trees from the kitchen window.

Yet, every time I get close to leaving something (a job, a city, etc.), I start remembering all the elements of that thing that I don't like, and those elements (often minor inconveniences) suddenly become simply unbearable. I don't do this consciously, but it does make the leaving easier.

So: Our apartment is freezing in the winter and has no storage space. In the baby's room, we have a wardrobe filled with our landlady's old stuff, which she has consistently refused to remove. About 100 empty glass jars live on one of the balconies, accompanied by a bag of rotting clothes and a broken oven. The pipes under the sink sometimes release a really bad odor that stinks up the whole joint. Even when I've just cleaned it, the potty room smells like a potty room.

But still, all in all, it's been a great place to live. (Enter nostalgic sigh here.)

Sorry, Sammy

This from the NY Times: "The eldest children in families tend to develop slightly higher I.Q.s than their younger siblings, researchers are reporting."

As I recall, Sam and I both had our I.Q.s tested when we were young, but, to this day, our parents have withheld the results. Personally, I think Sam's smarter.

You say potato

Dietrich has a habit: He likes to sit in his stroller and say "aaaaaa." He says "aaaaa" as long as he can, and then he takes a breath and says "aaaaaa" again. When he does this at church, everyone says, "He's singing."

Yesterday I was in the rinok (outdoor market), waiting in line to buy cherries. Dietrich was "aaaaaaa"-ing. Another guy selling fruit looked down at my sweet, cherub-faced little bug and asked him, "Who are you swearing at?"

Germany: A nice place to visit. And most likely to live, too.

On the swing at the Bible college where we stayed.

We got back a few days ago from a weeklong SEND conference in Germany. It was held at a Bible school from which several of our missionaries graduated. At this triennial event, all of SEND’s missionaries in the former Soviet Union (about 200 people) gather. We flew to Germany a day early because our plane tickets were $400 cheaper if we flew May 31 rather than June 1, so we got one morning together as a family before the conference started. So, there’s the context. Here’s the list:

1. In Germany, when the crossing light turns green and you step into the crosswalk, all the cars stop.

2. Corny land! Cornies are a granola-bar-ish treat that we discovered in Kyiv. In Germany, they have mini-Cornies, Corny bites and Big Cornies, which are the ones available here. We tried them all, and we feel the Big Cornies are the best.



3. Singing in English, especially this song, this song and various hymns.

4. Granola and tasty, whole-grain rolls with meat and cheese for breakfast. Salad and tasty, whole-grain rolls with meat and cheese for dinner. Gummy peaches for dessert. Rooibos tea at every meal and every break.

5. This commercial. And I'm not being culturally insensitive — the Germans in the room laughed, too.

6. Seeing the mommas and their babies at the Hannover Zoo. This probably will sound hokey, but ever since I became a momma myself, I feel connected to other moms, even when they’re hippos, elephants, ducks, turtles or gorillas. Also, Dietrich really enjoyed the penguins.


Momma and baby ducks.


Momma and baby hippos.


Momma and baby Oldenburgs.

7. Hearing about SEND's work in Kazakhstan and Siberia. Both of those areas have cultures that are quite different from Ukrainian culture, and it's amazing to see how our creative God is making Himself known in ways that wouldn't work here, but are perfect and compelling there. For instance, in Kazakhstan, people gather in traditional tents sometimes, and at the top of the tents is the pattern of a cross. They even have a saying that can basically be translated, "Look to the cross." It's a great place from which believers can start talking about the cross to which we all look for salvation.

8. Watching Dietrich bond with other kids. He mostly demanded a perch on my hip all week, but from that safe place he would burst into uncontrollable giggles when one of three kids — Ryan, Misha or Maya — came over to say hi.

9. German efficiency. The woman running the conference thought of everything! She had coffee available at 5:30 a.m. (or so she said … I wasn’t up at that hour). The families with kids were all assigned to two halls in the dorms, so that once the kids were asleep, a student could babysit while the parents went and had a coffee or an ice cream. At one point, I watched a child drop a leaf on a walkway. I noticed this otherwise-benign act because it was the ONLY leaf on the walkway, and I assume someone came by within 10 minutes to get rid of it.

10. Coming home. Not just because traveling with a baby was challenging sometimes, but because, as we approached our apartment in the taxi, I told Dietrich, “We’re almost home,” and for him, it’s 100 percent true. Eric and I have a hard time defining home, and eventually Dietrich probably will too, as he starts to remember visits to the States for Home Services, but for now, Xharkovsky Shosse 49 is his home.

Graduation day

Saturday, we were honored to participate as Kyiv Theological Seminary graduated its Class of 2007. Shortage of space means that the seminary can only teach one residential group at a time, so a full-time class graduates every four years. It was an exciting day, full of inside jokes and joyful smiles. These graduates will move on to ministry throughout Ukraine.

Eric got to dress all fancy in a black robe that he probably deeply regretted wearing as we sweltered through the 3-hour ceremony in the 90-degree church. Dietrich wore a Hawaiian shirt and a heat rash. He and I frequently stepped outside to cool off his sweet face, and the rash is mostly faded now.


Dietrich's rash looked dramatic, but didn't seem to bother him a bit.

Today, the academic cycle continued as the seminary tested and interviewed potential students for fall semester. Four years from now, we'll be bidding them goodbye. But for now, some pictures from Saturday's celebration ...


The happy grads.


The paparazzi.


Eric with Denis and Yulia Shulga. Denis, a youth-ministries major, was one of Eric's students.


Sunlight streamed through the skylights, heating up the beautiful church.


Emotions ran high as students and professors said goodbye to one-another.

International man of misery

It’s been a long week. Dietrich cut his first tooth Monday and his second Tuesday. Poor little thing is in pain. Plus, it’s about 90 degrees outside and Dietrich’s been running a fever all week. Poor little thing is hot. Hot + pain = hard to play, hard to eat, hard to sleep.


The offending teeth.

I’m not un-cranky either: The city turned off our hot water Tuesday (it will be off for two weeks), and yesterday we were entirely without water for most of the day. I put away Dietrich’s winter clothes, did some other organizing and went grocery shopping, but there’s not much a hazayeeka (homemaker, though the literal translation is female owner, boss or master) can do around her abode without any water. Plus I have one of those irritating, sporadic corner-of-the-eye twitches, and I keep waking up with a slightly swollen left eye.

Tomorrow is KTS graduation, and then it will be next week. Yay!

Today I'm enjoying

These tiny little mush pots, which hold two tablespoons of Dietrich's puree.

A nice place to eat

This post is mostly for my mom. (Hi mom!) I described Dietrich's new high chair to her over the phone, but a picture will make its cuteness all the more evident. It's the perfect addition to our kitchen. Meanwhile, Dietrich shows off his apricot mustache.

Flower mother

Eric and Dietrich made my first Mother's Day as a mom with an out-of-womb child a great one. An unexpected two-hour members' meeting at church meant we got a late start on the celebrating, but the quality made up for the smaller quantity.

Eric came home from church laden with gifts: A bib that says "I love mummy" from a British children's clothing chain, cards from D and E and 13 beautiful roses. (Even numbers of flowers are considered bad luck here, hence the 13 stems.)


My pretty present.

Then we headed off to Kyiv's botanical gardens to check out the lilacs. Three years in this city, and we'd never seen them. That was a waste of three possible lilac-viewing years! We clearly picked the right weekend, because it seemed like the whole city was there to enjoy the view. Hope these pictures help you enjoy the view, too, and if you want to see the real thing, come visit in mid-May!


The view from the top of the lilac grove, which we walked through.


Out on a limb.


Lovely lilacs and laddies.

We can't guarantee that you'll get to see the highlight of the day, though: As we walked through the lilac grove, we heard traditional Ukrainian music — good music. It had rhythm; you could dance to it. We finally found the source: A group of elderly Ukrainians, clearly all friends, had gathered to sing. Not to perform (though they certainly did draw a lot of attention), but just to hang out and sing. One man played the accordion, a lady added rhythm with her tambourine. Gold teeth flashing, they traded off singing the verses, joined together on the choruses and occasionally burst into a waltz. It was fantastic.


Dancing along to the Ukrainian tunes.

Thanks, moms, for contributing to the cycle of life that produced me, Eric and now D. We love you!

More beets, please