Restaurant Night

Rainy nights = candlelit dinners at our house. And sometimes, a candlelit dinner turns into Restaurant Night (D's favorite!), if the conditions are right. Those conditions being a Friday or Saturday night and favorable moods. We go to great lengths (ha!) for these nights - we dig out the red and white checkered table cloth and play some French Café music in the background. Voila! Restaurant Night! At the end of tonight's dinner, Denis gave us a little dance show. It's a bit hard to see, due to the candlelight, but you get the idea.

Meanwhile...

Life goes on as normal. Denis is at a great stage right now and seems to be growing up so quickly. He's fascinated with Legos and does a good job of following the building instructions. He loves to help around the house and is showing more and more independence everyday. The cats now love him and finally trust him as someone who won't pull their tails or chase them mercilessly around the house! He continues to process the idea of having a brother, and recently told me that he will have to teach Dmitry how to build a snowman.

For the two grandmothers out there: Denis and I made Grandma's pea soup the other day (his favorite!) and wants to make Granny's rhubarb pie today. If only we could get our hands on some rhubarb!

New Court Date Assigned

We've been assigned a new court date - October 31 - due to a few delays with all the paper work. While I'm a little disappointed about not leaving for Russia this time next week, this new date gives us more time to get things squared away at work and home before we leave for a month. Hopefully, we'll be able to book our flights soon. We're just waiting for one last green light.

Pre-Reading Fun

I love watching the changes in Denis as he becomes more interested in reading and figuring out how letters turn into words and words turn into stories. He's always loved books, but lately his interest seems to have intensified. Whereas before he would say, "I can't read this yet", he now says, "Mom, I think I can read this!" He can't yet, of course, but something is shifting within and he's beginning to recognize certain things. Technically, he's in what's called the pre-reading stage, and I'm awed by the way the brain works. I look forward to watching the transformation that'll take place over the next couple of years as he learns to read.

This morning we've been playing Cariboo and Boggle Jr., having all sorts of fun with letters and words. What great games for this age!

Typhoon Talas

We're hunkering down tonight as Typhoon Talas begins to rear her ugly head. According to the map above, we'll be just shy of a direct hit. Winds are picking up, but the worst of it isn't expected to hit until early tomorrow morning. We've cleared the balconies and stocked up on food and drink... just in case.