Maddie's Birthday Party

I can't believe how much a girl can change from 10 to 11!


Gone is the little girl who had to have her bunny all the time and loved to play with dolls.


Now she loves makeup (which has actually been discovered on her preteen face only after leaving for church!). The hat was a gift from Yana, our babysitter. She made it herself and Maddie has not taken it off in weeks!


And art is EVERYTHING! She says that someday she will be a missionary who sings and takes care of Russian street dogs while living off the sales of her artwork. Quite a plan!


She wanted to take her friends ice skating at the new rink in our mall and Yana generously allowed herself to be pushed, pulled and hung on for the whole hour! And I think this was her first time!


Maddie got the hang of it right away. She may even want to add it to her future plans... somehow...


I hung out with the ones who's feet were too small for the ice skates.

Happy Birthday, Maddie!

The day has finally arrived!!!


Maddie waited so patiently all through the winter as everyone else in the family had their birthdays, and finally spring arrived bringing her birthday as well.


The thing she wanted most was a guitar... for her American Girl Doll.




I think this may renew her interest in her own guitar!

Maddie asked for Chocolate Chip Pancakes for breakfast... Aubrie really got into that idea!

Photographer in Training

Maddie has a new hobby. Steve is teaching her to take pictures and then fiddle with them in Photoshop. For now I will share the "raw images" (I'm trying to pick up the jargon in order to fit in) and later you can see what she can REALLY do!

The kids went bowling with the family with whom they study Russian. (If my sentence structure seems a little odd, we can blame it all on Lomonosov, the man who really created the Russian grammar system! He has my brain all in knots right now.)


Maddie was throwing all kinds of strikes and spares (with bumpers firmly in place). Aubrie was just thrilled to see that her ball made it to the end... slowly... but surely!



The girls, remembering the downtime waiting for their next turn, brought all their drawing supplies.

Wheelbarrow rides are the latest amusement in our backyard. Yana has been a faithful pusher, but I am pretty sure I saw her riding a time or two!

Swimming Competition

Please take a moment to stand and applaud for two VERY good little swimmers.

Maddie and Cady performed SO well today at their competition.
They both swam the 50 meter backstroke.
Cady raced against one other girl and came in second... it was very close!




Maddie challenged three other girls and was ahead the entire time.




It was a photo-finish and from our angle, she won, but was awarded second place. I actually heard the girl who got 1st place say that she was sure Maddie had won, too.
Their coach was almost as proud of them as we were! The improvement of their swimming has been nice to see, but what they really deserve a certificate for is the way they have jumped right in to a new sport in a new culture with a new language and succeeded!