Gymnastics

Ben has been taking gymnastics for a few months now. He is doing really well and I finally snapped a few pictures with my phone at his last session. They always do the warm up together-he hates it because they are always making them try to do the splits and he can't do it!!!
The boys do a lot of floor work. Here they are practicing handstands. His are getting pretty good, I just wish he would not insist on doing them right in front of our TV!!!

Unfortunately, gymnastics has now turned me into the "Gymnastics Mother from Hell" because even though he tested to start on the bronze level, they have been checking off requirements at a level lower. So instead of him being awarded the bronze level, they gave him a poster to start working on it. It's like telling him he passed all his 3rd grade tests, but making him take it again anyway. His instructor's answer to my questions was "oh well, he'll breeze through bronze in no time..." Normally, I'd be so passive that I would just accept this, but I decided to go to the office and ask them about it. I still haven't got a good answer back and haven't heard from them this week, so I am pulling out the big guns and sending Sam up there tomorrow.....

and Darya's the name of his latest flame.....

I asked Ben if he would give up one of his bookcases so that Darya had somewhere to put her books in her room. He immediately took inventory of what was on that bookcase & worked out where he could put it all. I told him that I would help him sort out his room at the weekend and we'd decide where we should put everything. He said that she could have the bookcase & I thanked him for giving it to her. He replied "oh, anything for Darya" and walked off.....
She will be here in less than a week, we can't wait

The Maggie-isms keep on coming

When I picked Maggie up from camp today she was sitting on the playground covered in blood. She had obviously been playing with her tooth all day. I got them sno cones, but by the time we got in the car, she had pulled her tooth out.
Maggie: I can't believe I have pulled out another tooth by myself. How much is it worth Mum?
Me: Yeah, looks like you've been playing with that one all day
Maggie: Oh YEAH!!!!! I have.....

Chicken Clafouti

As a by-product of Sam's paleo diet, we have all become addicted to this dish (well, leave Ben out of the statement of course). It's really easy to make, melt 7 tbs butter & cool to room temp. Whisk in 6 eggs & 3/4 cup of coconut milk. Add 1 lb chicken breast & 2 tsps curry powder and cook at 400 for 45 mins. Absolutely yummy....

Day at the ballpark

Even though baseball season is almost over, this was our first trip of the year to Busch Stadium. We got tickets through the school & got a pretty good deal on them. we sat on the back row of the stadium, great for a Sunday afternoon in August, we had a nice breeze and were sitting in the shade. Maggie was really into the game, she loves to sit & watch baseball with Sam.

Ben wasn't too enthralled at first, but towards the end he really got interested in the game and didn't want to leave until the very end. They got to see a great game, the Cardinals won & Albert got a home run.

The best thing was that the kids got to go out on the field at the seventh inning stretch and sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. We nearly missed the whole thing because the ushers didn't get the kids from our section, so we had to run the whole way down there to get there in time!!!! They made it just as the other kids started singing.

I managed to get a good picture of the Hudson kids right after they were finished singing, they are looking quite impressed with themselves....

Banana song

Our exciting news

We are going to host an exchange student for the next school year, she will be a senior at Webster Groves High School. She lives in Odessa, very close to where Ben was adopted. Odessa is a very popular City to adopt children from, they appear to have a very active orphanage director that makes sure available children are placed on the data bank. She has worked with orphanage children before and we are sure she is going to be a great addition to our family. I haven't mentioned her on here previously, but we spoke to her yesterday, so I figured it was time.
I am sure that things will be very different being a family of five, especially since she is much older than Ben & Maggie, but I expect that the experience will be beneficial to all of us. Sam is hoping that she will teach him some Russian (although she told me she intends to speak only English while she is here!!), I am hoping that she'll teach the kids some manners & boundaries and maybe Maggie will even decide that being a girl is OK!!
Ben is really excited that she is going to be here soon, he talks about her all the time, I told her she's going to have to tell him to leave her alone when she's had enough.....
Dasha, we can't wait for you to get here.....