Christmas morning was fantastic - it was so fun thinking how very different it was from last year. Last year we hardly knew Sergey, I didn't have any idea what presents to buy him, and we were completely uncertain as to whether we would ever see him again. This year, I NAILED it on the presents (one in particular - a pullover warm-up jersey of his favorite soccer player that caused him to literally BEAM with happiness as soon as he saw it :-). I loved hearing his sweet, sincere "Sank You" after each gift, and seeing the joy on his face. He is still mostly very understated, but when he opened that one gift I think I got a little glimpse into what we will hopefully see more of in the future. It was awesome :-). It was also so comforting to know that we could buy him presents that we can keep here for him, knowing that he will be here to play with them before we know it :-).
After hanging out at home for a bit playing with our toys and gorging on breakfast casserole and cinnamon rolls, we went to my parents house for lunch and exchanging gifts with them. Again, it was such a great time, and it was so great to see all the joy that came from the giving and receiving of gifts :-). We played with all of our toys there, played more games, and delighted in a wonderful feast prepared by my mom. It couldn't have been more perfect :-).
The day after Christmas we headed to the beach to spend a few days there with Clint's mom and step-dad. We went to the same house last year, so again it was such a treat to compare this year to last year, and see how much more a part of our family Sergey is, how much more comfortable he is, and how much more it just feels perfectly natural that he would be here with us. There was much anticipation as the 27th grew nearer - the day of the great Wallyball tournament of 2013. Last year we entered the tournament and were the champions (the picture we took after we won is still the screen-saver on my phone :-). I woke up nervous, knowing that we had a title to live up to and that if we lost there would be broken hearts everywhere in our house. Thankfully, we were able to defend our title, and are the 2013 Corolla Light Wallyball Champions. Clint, Sergey, Harry and I played, and everyone else cheered like crazy. Clint's theory is that we will only get better every year for about 5 years or so, as Sergey gets older, faster and better, Harry hits puberty, and he and I only get incrementally older and slower. We'll see.
After our glorious victory, we spent the rest of the day playing and playing. We played some pingpong at the Rec center, and then headed out to enjoy the beautiful day. We played basketball, soccer, frisbee, ultimate frisbee, and just ran around on the beach. The day ended with a breathtaking sunset, pictured below, a yummy dinner, and more games played with the family. We all collapsed into bed around 11:30 and I did not even WAKE up until 10:00 am the next morning!!! I love vacation :-).
Our last full day at the beach was even more beautiful that the one before. It was even warmer and sunnier, and we found a place to rent bikes. We rode bikes, played basketball (I won TWO games of Knock-Out - my free throw was money), played ultimate, played hide and seek, and ran around on the beach. We grilled up hamburgers for dinner, and then after dinner exchanged gifts and - you guessed it- played more games :-). It was such a delight to be with Clint's mom and Andy - they are such gracious hosts and in such a gorgeous house - could literally not have been better. Sunday was super warm but rainy, so we went back to the rec center and played some Dowda v. Dowda wallyball, and swam in the pool. After coming home to watch the Ravens play, we headed back to our real home.
I had forgotten this happening last year and last summer, but one of my favorite things about going away for a few days when Sergey is here is seeing his reaction when we get home. I can tell how happy he is to be home - more relaxed, more comfortable. It is a great feeling - hoping that will just increase over the months and years when he is here forever.
Monday was a banner day - our super close friends (much more like family than friends :-) the Barnes came to visit. They were on their way home from Charlottesville (Meda and I grew up together, and then we all went to Wake Forest together) back to Boston, and were going to stop in on their way home. They decided a few days before that they would spend the night instead, and then once we had them here we managed to convince them to stay one more night and ring in 2014 with us. It. Was. Awesome. We played lots of games, rode dirt bikes, played basketball, rode 4-wheelers, went down the zip-line, played frisbee with the dogs (they had their yellow lab with them), went swimming, ate lots of bad food, and had the best New Year's Eve ever with some dear friends (where the adults had way more fun than the kids playing Reverse Charades). There were even plans made for a beach week together this summer for all 4 families - so hoping that will come to fruition!!!
Thursday the boys mulched the yard (everything is so much easier with Sergey here - he is crazy strong and an amazingly hard worker, so it goes much faster!!), and I did some catching up on work stuff (I am hosting a tennis camp for folks with special needs this weekend and it has been hard to fit in time to work on it). That night, Olivia and I went with some friends to the premier of Downton Abbey down at the Byrd. We stood in the rain for over an hour waiting to get in, and it was TOTALLY worth it - so much fun :-).
Friday was a day I had been looking forward to for months - our youth pastor had planned a trip to Jumpology just for middle and high school boys (and 5th graders thankfully, so Sam could go to). I knew Sergey would love it, and man was I right :-). I think the pictures speak for how much he loved it :-). They went to Cici's for pizza afterwards, and Liv and I did some post-Christmas shopping and had a lovely afternoon together :-). Clint's dad arrived that afternoon, and we had so much fun with him here. He and Olivia made cookies, we bagged and delivered another full load of shoes, and we just enjoyed having him and his warmth and hilarious sense of humor with us.
The weekend was filled with basketball - both boys had games on both days, so we did a lot of cheering. It is fun that Sergey is so competitive and even though he is pretty quiet during the games, he is so into it. There were some close games, and it was fun to see him get excited (in his own VERY understated way). Our "other son" Andrew Cook was with us on Saturday night, so with four boys in the house, chaos pretty much reined. I think by Sunday morning Pa was probably ready to return to his peaceful life in York :-). Being at church again was glorious - having him with us there always makes me feel deeply satisfied and whole in a way I can't explain. Liv had a friend with her for the day, so after the last game on Sunday we headed in the cold rain to Cold Stone Creamery. Of course.
Sunday night we had youth group, where they were going to play Capture the Flag. I had assumed that Sergey would want to go, but he said he would rather stay home, even when I told him that we would do some Rosetta Stone! :-) I think he was worn out (Saturday night was when he stayed up and did the decorating and writing in his room that I wrote about in the other blog post, so he was exhausted by this time). It was wonderful after such a full weekend to have the house quiet and just enjoy some time with our two oldest (we put that youngest in bed quickly - he was definitely ready for it :-). Clint also enjoyed the fact that the night ended with a WFU basketball victory over UNC - with the glory days of WFU basketball well behind us, that was a beautiful thing to celebrate for all of us Deacons :-).
Monday morning was SO early - I always say that I am going to wake everyone up a little earlier to get used to it, as we get closer to going back to school, but then I never do it, so Monday was quite the shock. Clint worked from home so that I could go the class I love at the gym, and apparently Sergey didn't get up much before I returned at 10:30. Emmanuel came over for lunch (our Ukranian friend who translates for us) and we talked some more about what life will be like when Sergey is here for good. We wanted to make sure that he understood a few things about rules/restrictions that he will have so he won't feel like he got the bait and switch, and he seemed to understand and be okay with them. The fun part was seeing how much more of what we were saying to Emmanuel he understood without Emmanuel translating, and how I understood what he was saying one time. He is always a bit uncomfortable when we have these talks - how could he not be with three adults staring at him like a firing squad. However, this time he seemed a bit more relaxed, which was a great thing. I can't wait for him to tell us one day what it was like for him to have those conversations. Of course, there are SO MANY things that I can't wait for him to tell us one day!!!
After we met with Emmanuel, we went to another ESL lesson with our friends. He seemed to enjoy it, and she even said that once they are both here for good she will keep meeting with them, which is AWESOME. When we went to pick them up, the teacher asked the other student a question about time and she was struggling to remember the words. Sergey, who had already been standing a little behind her, leaned forward and quietly whispered the answer to her from behind, with a sneaky little grin on his face. It was so cute - I always adore seeing the playful silly side of him come out. We picked up Liv and came home, and the boys played basketball while I made dinner. Monday night we all had different things - boys had basketball practice, I had Bible study, and Liv had a Hanover Youth Service Council meeting. When we all reconvened back home we found out the glorious news that Hanover County schools would be opening 2 hours late (oh so sadly for Liv, Veritas opened on time :-( ). The boys stayed up late and watched football in celebration :-).
Tuesday Sergey got up just after Harry got on the bus at 10 am, and we hung out here for a while and then met Clint at Burkwood. Clint was going to run 3 miles on the treadmill, so Sergey went over and got on one as well. He obviously has never been on one, and I would pay some serious money to have a video of it. He caught on after a bit, but watching him crank it up faster and faster and FASTER while not really knowing what he was doing was both terrifying and hilarious. I told him "you are going to be on America's Funniest Videos" and he laughed out loud :-). We ran/walked (he did 3 miles like Clint), and then he did the weight machines while Clint and I stretched and did other exercises. Clint headed back to work and Sergey swam for a while, and then we came home for lunch (where he whipped me at Farkle). We picked up Sam, then Liv, then Harry, and then headed to the Fantastic Thrift (our most favorite store). After getting home we had dinner and then Sam, Clint and Harry headed off to Sam's CCB basketball practice and Liv studied while Sergey and I worked on Rosetta Stone. The kid is so smart - he is totally going to pick up on this whole English thing so quickly. I am so proud of him. He spent some more time drawing, and then we all headed to bed (with the beautiful knowledge that today we had another 2 hour delay).
Which brings me to right now, and I need to head up and get breakfasts and lunches made and get these boys on their buses!!! Have a great day!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment