Good Luck, Grammie!

We got to see Grammie for about an hour on Wednesday. A company flew her down here for an interview, but she had to go back right away so we drove her to the airport. No word yet on the job offer. She looked really amazing, as you can see in the photo.

Chip surprises us every day with the things he does. Yesterday, he went into the coat closet and grabbed the broom and dustpan so he could sweep the kitchen floor (while Mommy was on the phone). Then, he went into the living room and grabbed a screwdriver that was lying on the table, turned his dump truck upside down, and went to work. He never did tell us what was wrong with it, but it seems that he's fixed it because it's working fine. Seriously, though, he really did get that screwdriver into a screw hole and started turning it. He must have seen us changing batteries the day before, but we sure didn't think he was paying attention. He's amazing.

Funny Boy

Today, Gabriel took Mommy to Moe's for lunch with some other babies and mommies and then to Hiram Coffee House for some one-on-one time. We played tic-tac-toe, and Chip made some important phone calls and worked on his Yahtzee game, as you can see in the photos. We had a great time.

Our little comedian seems to want allergies just like Daddy. We're learning that your kids show you what you do most by imitating you. Gabriel has been fake sneezing since yesterday, and today had a fake sneezing fit all through his dinner. At least he holds his napkin over his nose while he sneezes. He also started chewing gum the day before yesterday. He tryed a few pieces before he found one he liked and then strutted into the kitchen where we were to show us what a big boy he is.

The Bees are Buzzing

...and the ladybugs are appearing. It seems the warm weather we're having is fooling them into thinking that it's spring. There are also some trees in bloom.

We did more house shopping today. We revisited the one we like the most, but it depends where Mom and Dad work whether or not this will be a good location for them. We'll keep looking.

Gabriel made a sign sentence today. He signed "please" and "eat", meaning "Please, may I have some crackers?"

We've added a new permanent link on the right side of the page. It's the 1950-1980 yearbook for the Kapel'a Banduristiw imena Tarac' Shevchenko (not sure about the forms of the last two words), or the Bandurist Choir in the name of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's revered poet. His famous work is Kobzar, which is a sort of wandering minstrel bandurist, I think. A bandura is an instrument that is half double bass, half harp. Anyhow, look for Havrylo Machynia, P's grandpa ("did"). His story is really interesting but for another day.

That's it for today. My boys are in bed and I'd like to join them.

Z Rizdvom Hristovim

Merry (Orthodox) Christmas! We celebrated today by making our first ever homemade Ukrainian dinner (even though it's supposed to be eaten on Sviat Vechir - Christmas Eve), and it was fantastic, if the chef does say so herself. We had stuffed salmon and varenyky, and for dessert we had Pillsbury out-of-the-freezer-at-Super Target cookie dough pie (not so Ukie, but sooo yummy). Yes, we know the pysanky on the table are for Easter, but they make such beautiful decorations!

We stuffed the salmon with a mixture of lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, onion, celery, and rice and covered it with the remainder after rubbing it with garlic and butter. The rice came out a little undercooked, but overall it tasted and smelled fantastic.

The varenyky (pierogi) were a little more tricky. We made the dough from scratch, and it was super sticky. We went through an enormous amount of flour to keep it from sticking to the wax paper. We made the filling from mashed potatoes (from the box, it was a very late dinner and besides, we're not that anal!), onions, and cottage cheese, with a dash of salt and pepper. After doing only a couple, we got the hang of it and made the rest pretty quickly. Not a single one opened up while cooking, so we're pretty proud of that. After they were drained, we tossed them in butter and P added a good dose of smetana (sour cream) on top of hers. They were perfectly cooked - nice and firm - and they expanded nicely, and the dough, which was pretty tasteless uncooked, developed a really nice flavor. We'll never eat pierogi out of a box again.

We were so proud of how well the dinner turned out, and we're very excited to be keeping Ukrainian cultural tradition in our family. With Chip in bed, we were able to sit in the dining room, have some wine (Ecco Domani pinot grigio) with dinner, and (gasp!) talk for once! Here's a photo of the proud chef:

We also did some house shopping for the future Georgians, Patty's mom and dad, today and found a really great one, but it's too far from everything. We have a couple more to see tomorrow, and hopefully we (along with Mom and Dad) can choose one by Monday. Anyway, Merry Christmas! Here are a couple of links that you might enjoy:

Ukie Christmas Eve

Ukie Christmas and why it's celebrated 13 days "late"

More of the same but with some great pictures

On The Twelfth Day Of Christmas

...Dad and Gail gave to us, presents under the tree. We got to open more presents today, this time under our own tree, and it was really great. Gabriel loved his toys and played with them all night. He especially loved the police helicopter, of course, and we're even big fans of Playmobil toys.

We did a lot of house shopping today for Mom and Dad, and there is one that stands out, but we're going to keep looking just in case. We also took a bunch of photos last night and today, and Gabriel even took a couple. We were amazed at how well his first photo came out - it's rare that the hazel in his mommy's eyes shows up in photos (and by the way, we could all do without whatever that is in her teeth, and oy, that grey hair), so we see National Geographic photography in his future. Here are some of our favorites from last night and today:

Going for a walk last night

"This house is safe enough for me"

Vroom, vroom!

Trying to outrun the camera

Chip gives the train conductor a career change

Cutest pjs ever

GLA's first photo ever