Delays in posting

Sorry for the delay in posting. Busy parenting. As the kids become more comfortable we see more natural behavior (which means somewhat more misbehavior, nothing too serious but it takes some time to deal with)

Jaenelle's birthday was Sunday. She got what she asked for. A pomegranate some "European fashion" (shopping with mom at some Italian clothing store) Special dinner and dessert. Pizza Chicken (or so I call it, more or less Chicken Marinara) poached chocolate covered pears (I can still do some fancy stuff in this minimal kitchen) It was a good day. Some tears from her after everybody went to bed. She wasn't quite ready for such a significant loss of 1 on 1 time. I'll go into it more later. We have recommitted to try to spend 1 on 1 time with each kid and assured her it will be easier at home. More stuff to do, more conveniences that allow for more time. (like a kitchen whose workspace isn't the size of a boat's galley)

Jack cut his knee on some sharp rocks on a medieval era wall while we were out for a walk on Sunday. Had to take him home and patch him up. Boy has had a rough trip. He's bashed his head on playground equipment seriously enough to give himself a gooseegg. (This was 10 days ago, he's fine) Smacked his mouth a few days later (slipped on sand on the equipment, teeth first into wood,  he is fine, no loose teeth) split his knee. Gone down several times while on uneven sidewalks and cobblestones. He's in the wail like a siren phase. So it's fun. Add to that some days of sharing his bed with Aleks don't always go well and he's been roughed up this trip. He will like being home. Such a good kid. Positive and happy almost all the time. If his little brother smacks him (as we are teaching Aleks not to do) or bothers him, Jack will not lash out. Jack will not hit his brother. Aleks is more rough and tumble for sure, but Jack is much bigger than Aleks.  (not that Jack is big but he is 7 month older, that's alot when you are five)
Jack is just too kindhearted to beat up his little brother. He's such a good kid and so quiet, we have to be careful not to lose him in the shuffle.

Spent $100E on books on Friday. Found out the Latvians had few books. They are voracious readers, especially Nauris. It's like feeding a starving man. Language delays my butt. They just didn't have enough stimulus and access to things. Seems so strange to think of books as a luxury.

Well, I will continue to work on my summaries of the kids (all of them) between time and a bit of a clunky laptop (beggars can't be choosers) that will probably wait until we get home.

All things are go. We get the visas today. I will talk to the super about the apartment and moving out. Mail extra clothes home. Arrange for a minibus to take us to the airport early Thursday and talk to the airport about how early we need to be there. It's a 6:30 flight. 2 hours early is well, crazy most places that early. We will see what they say. With the issues in Europe lately with terrorism, I am concerned with security. The uptick in police presence is noticiable. With all the Easter events here you could see them, very obviously. A number of not so obvious ones too (thank my time in New Orleans to pick out those) The police don't break out the K-9's for fun.

Should be good. Happy we have a pretty long layover in Frankfurt to handle any extra security. Since we are already in the airport it shouldn't be too bad, I hope.

Crisis Averted and the best resolution

Last few days have been interesting

So I applied for the children's travel visas over the weekend. Ran into some trouble on how to pay for them. Sent an email to the US consulate in Riga. Got some help. Filled out some info, (that really should import off of the Visa application) Got to pay and... couldn't. Four ways to pay. Pay cash at the bank. It takes a day or so to credit. Nah, there has to be an easier way. Direct Bank transfer, takes 2-3 days to credit. Too long. Debit card? Instant? Sounds promising. Trustpay? What the heck is that? Debit card it is.

I called my bank a couple days ago and requested upping the limit on daily transactions and cash so I could pay the bill. I was prepared. Got to pay and I received perpetual errors. I saw the payment screen once, it errored and screwed up my profile. Called customer support. They told me not to use Safari as a browser, ok switched devices. No joy. Waited an hour, cleared my cookies. No dice. Called them back. Oh, you have to have a local bank to use a debit card. OK, but I've never entered my bank info, so that can't be the problem. Use Trustpay. OK. Went to use Trustpay. Oh, you have to be a European resident.

Bank transfer is still out. Tried to talk to customer service again, only to have my Latvian phone run out of minutes. I didn't know how to add time to it. Called my Agency contact. She told me how, also to use the mobile phone company's website. Problem, they take only bank transfers from... local banks, no credit cards.

Used my US phone (just turning it on for phone use costs me $10 a day) called US Embassy Customer Service. Nothing to do, could only use a bank transfer. If it was done by 3 pm local time it will credit after 1 pm tomorrow. Our appointment time? 2pm the next day. What time was it after I was told this? 12:22. No sweat, I would run out, grab the cash (about $500E) hit a bank and we would hopefully be OK on the timing.

Got to ATM. Could only pull out $180E ($200) Oh no, the bank didn't raise the limit. Wendy and I had depleted much of our cash on hand earlier in the week. I rushed home. Told Wendy. Grabbed her ATM card. Took every penny she had. I think we would have enough as long as the transaction fee from the bank (who would surely charge me as I wasn't an account holder) I got another $180. I had Roughly 470E I needed $465, should be OK as long as the exchange rate wasn't terrible. OK, had the payment voucher from the website, said bill would be $456E. Should be safe.
Got to Swedbank. (Closest bank and a large branch in old Riga) Explained what I needed. They could do it. She asked if i had "the passport." Yes, i had the kid's passport. It was 1:30. I took a number. 236. On 228. Twenty-five minute wait. Cash transaction desk opened up. 236 came up. I spoke with the teller (another pretty blonde, to go with the two pretty blondes and one pretty brunette that greeted customers, like i said, virtually all young women in Latvia are pretty)

She spoke good English. She knew what to do. Did I have MY passport? No, why would I need that? This is for their visa transaction? But I was the one conducting the transaction and I am a foreigner. Oh, F@#@#%$! No passport, no transfer. It's 2:00. Did I mention I had to have this done by 3:00 pm?

Trot back to the apartment. Wendy and the kids were out playing at the park. It was a nice if a bit cold. i got may passport and went after my American dollars. They could exchange money if necessary, they were a big bank, I saw the rates posted. I had another $100+. Now I was confident I had the money, now would I have the time?

Trot back to Swedbank. Took a number. It was 2:25. My number was... I don't remember, 3-- something. I had just over thirty minutes and there were 6 numbers ahead of me. I saw three different bankers working the cash transaction windows. That's promising, before it was only one.

Five minutes later, my number came up. Number before me had given up waiting. Back to same pleasant teller. Showed my passport. Provided her the info. She said the transaction fee would be 7.12E. I was going to have a 5E bill and change leftover. I counted it out, three times as she did the paperwork.

She explained they would open an account for me for one day. (Great, paperwork and I am pressed for time) She was quick and competent, however. Created the account. Signed. Filled out the transfer form. Signed again. Double checked the transfer info. Handed over the cash. She used a counting machine and it was done. With 11 minutes to spare.

Wendy wanted some Sauerkraut to go with dinner. (Sausages with kraut, mashed potatoes and green beans as sides. Went over well and was quite tastey)

I hustled towards the central market where several vendors sold homemade kraut in bags by the kilo for only 1E. I knew I would swing by the Narvesen (convienence store) that would sell minutes for the phone. Had to have that phone working, it was the only way for Bruno, our attorney, to get contact us. i stopped in. Nobody at the counter. A teenager stood back by an open office door. He certainly didn't look to be working. A woman in a company shirt came out. Two customers spoke with her, they didn't speak Latvian, they spoke some English, clerk didn't speak English. (Oh great, I pick the one store where the staff doesn't speak English, not their fault but virtually every store and restaurant does in Riga) The teenager walked to the front of the store and spoke with the customers. They were looking for playing cards, a nice middle aged couple in their fifties, they were taking a long time, and I knew Bruno would call that day to talk about the Visa appointment.

The clerk beckoned me to approach as the teenager went over the card options with the customers. I told her what I wanted. She didn't fully understand. I pulled out the phone and the plastic simcard holder you keep that has the phone's info. I showed her the company (has some kind of fish emblem) THAT she knew. I saw some cards hanging to the side of the register that appeared to be the same company. She struggled to ask me the next question. Sum? I held up my fiver. She understood and took my money and handed me a receipt. I asked what to do. She couldn't respond.

The teenager finished with the other customers and stepped over. I surmised this young man didn't work here, but his mother did, she was the clerk. His English was pretty good. He explained. Dial a specific number, enter a code. He offered to do it for me. I figured it out as he explained. He read the code to me and double checked the code. Code transmitted, credit received. Phone functional again. SCORE 2 for 2. All because I was polite, persistent and because Latvians, while a slightly dour people, really aren't unfriendly, they are just reserved. They are however, very friendly and helpful once engaged. Thanks Latvia!

Made it to the market, got some kraut from our favorite vendor. 1E. I was down to Just over 1E, it was all the cash we had for 24 hours, or at least until I exchanged money or spoke to my bank and asked what the hell happened.

Back to the apartment, kids and such were ok. I'd been grouchy all morning as I struggled with the website, customer service and phones. Wendy had done an excellent job at keeping them out of my hair. They did look a bit sheepish, like they had done something wrong. (Which mostly wasn't true, Aleks needs to learn to not touch phones, tablets and computers when others are using them and sticking out his tongue at his mother when she scolds him is a bad idea) I told them everything was OK and that I was sorry for being grouchy but I had a very stressful day.

I took a nap, I was exhausted. Burned out from stress. Kids were mostly good. Wendy started dinner. I received an email from the US embassy looking for confirmation of the payment. Greaaaat. Of course they were. I replied that i had trouble getting the payment in due to website issues but that I sent a cash transfer from the bank and they should see it tomorrow. OK, good, they will look for it.

Bruno called, because of course, Bruno would then call. He wanted to come over. Of course he would. 10 minutes later, Bruno arrived and asked us to review the translation of the court decree. If it was good, he would have the copies notarized the next day. (today) Copy was good. Minor corrections. I saved a copy to my laptop and forwarded it to the embassy staff.

I called the bank as it was now 4 PM local time and 9 am Iowa time. Spoke with the bank. Only the point of sale side limit had been increased. ugh. OK, increase both, just for good measure. We had managed so I wasn't going to extract my pound of flesh. I must be going soft. Years ago I would have had the bank president on the phone (it's a small bank) and chewed his butt for a problem that I had managed to resolve. Perhaps I've gotten nicer, meh, probably just too tired to be a jerk.

Dinner was ready. The giant bowl of kraut and sausage was met to oohs and ahhs, literally. Dinner was very, very good. I was rested, fed, had a beer, Kids were pretty good. Aleks had gotten in trouble earlier that day for hitting Jack so I wasn't going to allow any cartoons. I relented. Wendy and I needed a break and was out of options. I queued up a stream of Jim Henson's "The Dark Crystal" Stream wasn't good and only got a bit over half-way.  Bother. It was late enough to send them to bed, We explained that we owned that movie in America and they could watch it there. Kids went to bed without problem.

Wendy ran out to shop. We thought everything would close over the Easter holiday so we needed four days worth of food. (offices close, but not shops and restaurants but we didn't know that until today) She bought milk and juice, we would get the rest tomorrow.

Wendy and I went to bed within an hour or so. She had caught my cold and I am still not over it.

Today: Breakfast. We were going to get documents printed at the copy shop up the street past the German embassy. I tried to call the embassy, Mrs. Galdina, our contact was not available until 10 am. It was 9, we would wait to leave until I made the phone call. I Received an email, payment credited! It was just past 10 am, it was early! Whoope! I called Mrs. Galdina at the embassy. We discussed who needed to attend the interview. The Latvians and at least one of their new parents. Wendy and the kids wanted to go. It wasn't every day you got to visit your embassy. Mrs. Galdina's reply, "Of course you can all come, you are US citizens, you are always welcome in your embassy." (Citizenship has it's perks I suppose) I forwarded the email with the receipt number to the Mrs. Galdina.  We walked to the copy shop. Printouts done.

Went to the market. Shopping done, Aleks misbehaved a bit. Wandered. Tried to refuse holding anybody's hand. (Marked was crazy busy ahead of the holiday. Why take all the kids? We both need to go to carry and even the kids carry some bags. Seven eat alot of food.) Some sternly spoken. "You listen to your mother, you listen to your father." Did the trick but he was sullen the entire rest of the trip.

Home for lunch. Received an email, one electronic copy of the documents couldn't be opened. (the laptop runs linux and it saved it in some alternate file format, not a word doc) It was ok, I had what she needed in paper copy. I received another email Payment confirmed! Things were looking up.

Lunch was sandwiches and leftovers. Kids got to play for a bit. Aleks grew frustrated with his siblings while playing in the other room and mooned them. He has a habit of shaking his butt at people and making taunting noises. I wonder where he learned that? That was a timeout and a "never, ever do that again" discussion facilitated by Dite, because I couldn't pronounce the Latvian words the translation program used. Point made. Man, not what we needed. Called a cab company that advertised minibuses so we could ride together. They had none available. 2 cabs it was!

Aleks was disrespectful of Wendy was she tried to get him to get his coat and shoes on. That was nose in the corner time. I know, probably shouldn't do it, plenty of issues with that strong an exile, but we are running out of things to do. That worked, he hated it. Especially when I made him go full forehead into the corner, no looking around, no fidgiting (because I stood two feet from him)
It's funny, when you talk to him about when he misbehaves, he gets sullen, covers his ears not to hear it. I can't imagine Lilita and Janis yelled very much. I bet it was the orphanage or school. Anyway, he acknowledges that he knows, doing whatever he did wasn't good. Can't answer why he did X  or Y. I just think it's too long without proper oversight and he doesn't have the impulse control he should. It will come. All kids impulse control is external to start. It has to be internalized. I thought we would be beyond with a five year old. Not so one that comes out of an orphanage and a house with six other kids. Language and new parents probably play a part of it too.

Taxi's came. Got on the road and realized I left ALL the documents in the apartment. So busy herding children, forgot the things we needed most. We were only a few blocks away. Turned around, called Wendy. We would be delayed.
Got docs, back in Taxi. Made good time. It's why you leave early for important meetings, poop often happens, you aren't late then when it does happen.

Made it to the embassy. Waited outside for a bit to be let in. (I did notice extra security downtown and at the embassy, no doubt due to what happened in Brussels) I started to explain to the guard through the intercom what we were there for. "AH, Bryant family? Yes, come right in." It's good to be expected. Jaenelle and Jack had noticed cameras outside while we were waiting. (two others had gone in ahead of us) They asked if the people inside knew we were there. I assured them that they certainly knew we were there. The cameras they could see and probably one we didn't see made certain of that.

We were let in. No electronics past the security checkpoint. A short walk. I pointed out we were now technically in the United States while in the US embassy. Another security check point.

Went to the bank teller like window that I assumed was probably bullet proof. Handed over some documents and the Latvian passports and Wendy's and mine.
Short wait. A couple of questions for the kids. (Did they still want to travel to the US? All positive) Visas approved. Documents back. Our passports back. ai passports returned with their visas on Tuesday. That was it. Took about an hour. Easiest thing we have done yet.

Easy taxi ride home with a cabbie who spoke English well. We saw two accidents. I made the comment that one of the cars was a BMW, that was an expensive car to be driving too fast (was a rear-end by the BMW, following too close and/or driving too fast) He laughed. "Yeah, that's a nice car. "Saw the next accident. Driving too fast again. His reply, "Driving stupid." This guy drives every day all day. He said "Fast is nice, stupid is bad." Spoken like a true cabbie.

Home. Kids played. We determined we would go out for dinner to celebrate the last paperwork and Jaenelle's coming birthday. She chose a Thai restaurant. We love Thai, might as well introduce the kids.

Latvians all order friend rice, Americans order Thai food (except for Jack, he gets fried egg noodles) We order three appitizers, egg rolls, pot stickers and dumplings. More Chinese than Thai. Food went over well. Except Aleks didn't like the sauces for anything. He has a thing against sauces. Also likes his rice plain.

Aleks became bored with the colored pencils the restaurant provided to entertain kids. So we played, slap dad's hand (like giving me "five") and see if I can catch his hand. Lots of giggles and smiles. It's nice when he is well behaved and fun. Five minutes later he would drop food into my beer. Sigh.

Dinner came slowly. Kids got their food. Wendy, Jaenelle and I had ordered off the adult menu and ours came later, much later.  It was all very good. Nauris and Aleks didn't like the fried rice much but ate some anyway. Kids meals came with ice cream. Big scoops of vanilla with whipped cream and strawberry sauce and M & M's. THAT they liked.

Aleks put his coat on to leave before Wendy and Jaenelle received their food. Once we got up and started to leave. Aleks went to Wendy and asked to go home. He told her he was tired. What a cute little kid. He may be a grade A pain sometimes. He really is a good natured and fun kid. He just doesn't know what to do with himself sometimes.

Got home, kids to bed. (I did give the four oldest 10 minutes each of video games on the Ipad, they had been good)

Chat with Wendy and resolve to start writing on the blog.
By this time next week we will be in the air. By this time local time we will have been home for several hours!

See you all soon. Next blog is more about the kids, I promise. They are really coming into their own and becoming comfortable being themselves.

Day 21 Happiness for us sorrow for Brussels

Warning political rant. Skip the next paragraph if you don't want to read it.

So as I was on my way to court in Nereta today, somebody (ISIL claims responsibility) set off a couple of bombs in Brussels. It's tragic. It shouldn't happen. The West needs to take some responsibility for creating the environment for ISIL to grow.  (both through wrong action and inaction when we needed to act) The middle east needs to reject such tactics as wrong all the time. People going to work, school and on holiday do not deserve to die or be injured or terrified. Rant Off.

Now on to the adoption stuff.

Left for court at 8 am, Had everything. Every piece of paperwork, a bunch of the kids' schoolwork, passports, vaccination records, pictures, the flyer from Kung Fu Panda 3. Everything. This meeting was not just in the Chairman's office, this was in the Courtroom. Bruno and I walked in, four women sat and a large table at the far end of a large room. A second long table formed a T with theirs. A court reporter sat along this second table. The Chairman, vice chair and the two other women that I had met before (the one from the original meeting and the one from the visit to our apartment on the 9th) were all there. Only the court reporter was unfamiliar. I wasn't sure if she was on the court or not. When we passed around the materials, she was handed them readily to review, so I suspect she was on the court. Perhaps not as she directed no questions to us. All of the other members did.

Bruno and I moved chairs up to the table as we were directed but he and I both instinctively stood to address these authority figures. We were waived down immediately. The chairman directed us to sit. She even smiled and laughed. I could tell without understanding the language that she said "we aren't that formal, sit down." Or words to that effect.

Then the questioning began. "Did we still want to adopt these children?"
"Yes, very much so."
"Are things going well?"
"Yes, we think so."

They asked to see what I had brought. I showed them the schoolwork. I recently taught Nauris and Dite addition and subtraction of decimals. The kids have been painting and drawing more. I showed them the charts with the verb IS on it. I showed them the pictures of our play time, outings to the park, and our trip to McDonald's. (They had never been and I swore in high school that I would go to McDonald's in any foreign country I could, even now when I consider their food barely edible. It's no better really, but it's not bad either) They heartily approved.

We talked about the visit to the doctor. No great concerns. Some things to think about with Dite, things to watch for. We need some vaccinations in the US, but nothing urgent or that would prevent travel.

We talked about their behavior, concerns with Dite's happiness, and Aleks' obedience. Dite we will give some extra TLC and Aleks is mostly just age based and environmentally based challenges. Nothing that raised any real concerns on their part or ours.

They asked to see the pictures of the new house again. I again had to explain some of the pictures were from before we moved in so there was no furniture in the photos of our bedroom. The house was fully ready. They liked the happy picture of Duke. Too bad, the kids won't ever meet him. Then again, maybe it's not too bad.

After a little more than half and hour's discussion they said they were ready to render their decision. They all retired to a side room. Bruno and I expected to leave while they deliberated, we were told to sit. In between five and ten minutes they returned. They did not give an indication of the decision. The chairman spoke at length. It was clear she was reading a list of details, I heard the names of the children and dates. Their birthdates, what I knew to be the date they were taken from their mother, the date they were placed with us, today's date. The chairman stopped. Bruno turned to me. "OK"(he starts nearly every sentence with OK) "OK, decision is positive and they have decided the children stay with you in United States, maybe seven months." Now that doesn't sound very permanent, but I knew that was just the initial approval to allow us to travel and the time to get the adoption finalized. That was it. We had been awarded formal, legal custody and permission to travel with them to the US. The words we wanted to hear since we first arrived in Latvia. The big hurdle is over.

The rest was just a discussion of how things would work and an acknowledgement that I would be traveling back for court (hopefully in just a couple of months and not six or seven) and that I would be seeing them again. There would be an interim placement report we would provide. We would wait for them to write up the formal decree and seal it.

Bruno and I walked to the one Cafe in Nereta (it is all of 1200 people, per Wikipedia) A cup of coffee and some salad (not lettuce salad but what they called a Russian salad, peas, ham, other vegetables bound together with mayo) and a little talk and the paperwork was ready. We walked back to the municipal building. Had to wait while they prepared a second copy, shook hands and left.

We did get one interesting tidbit. Nauris and Dite each have a small amount of money to their names. Some sort of pension from his deceased father (in Nauris' case) some compensation for what happened to her, (in the case of Dite) They asked what we would do with it. They would not tell us how much it was until the adoption was final. I said, "depends on how much it is, probably put it into a bank account for the university."(college means high school in much of the world and does here too) "Otherwise they would probably just get a nice bicycle or something." Their foster parents in Bauska had not touched it and stated it was for their use when they grew older. I said to them we took the same view, though Bruno had said we could do what we wanted with it. He said I gave a good answer.  Frankly, we didn't expect any sort of assets. Bruno said he didn't know how much, but it might only be 100 Euros or something. Whatever. If they have 100E we will let them save or spend it. If they have much more, we will save it. If they are secretly millionaires, I'll be retiring as I pay myself for managing their money. (yes, yes I know you can't do that when the money is your guardians', give me a little credit) The court was very interested in my reaction. Which was a mix of "Really? Well that's nice, and "Whatchyou talkin' 'bout Willis?" It was interesting they wouldn't say anything until after their decision. As though the prospect of a few hundred or even a few thousand Euros would make some difference consider the costs of tens of thousands of dollars. To speak nothing of the massive time and emotional commitments.

All the questioning and keeping the info concerning their bank accounts secret (Bruno was genuinely surprised and knew nothing prior) speaks to the idea that this was not all merely perfunctory. I know often that foreign adoptions can be. The agency and ministries do their homework, but a few days or a week and you have a new child. Goodbye thanks for your money. Oh, would you make a donation? No attitude like that here. It was about what was best for these kids. Surely, we had the initial stamp of approval, we wouldn't have received permission to come otherwise. If the court didn't like my answers, if they didn't like what they saw. If the children had expressed concerns, this would have been much harder or have been derailed.

Long car ride home and we heard about Brussels. I already spoke on that earlier. Home to be mobbed by children and a good report from Wendy on the day. No issues beyond normal kid stuff. Fun at the park. Lots of art with numerous paintings and drawings by all.

After some attention, kids played and Wendy and I talked about everything at court. We planned the next week or so. We need to get some documents printed for the Visa meeting at the Embassy on Thursday and ship some things home. (The kid's bags are VERY heavy, and they don't need to carry all their warm weather clothes or 2 or 3 coats on the plane)

Aleks acted up a bit, he couldn't wait his turn to use the water colors (we have only two brushes) got into stuff, annoyed his siblings. I had promised rewards for a good day. I asked if Aleks wanted to go shopping with me. He initially expressed indifference until Nauris used a better word I didn't know. He jumped up and got his boots and coat. The other kids wanted to go, but I said this was just a little time for Tetis (daddy in Latvian) and Aleks. Dite was bummed, but I told Aleks needed time with me and usually we would all go.

Aleks was thrilled to have me to himself. The info we received from his foster mother on Sunday that he doesn't want to share his parents is turning out to be useful. I didn't have to ask to hold his hand, he readily sought out mine. He only stopped when he decided it was cold enough for mittens. We walked past a couple of small bakeries. I wanted to go to the big one that was further away.
Aleks helped me review their selection of cakes and pastries. I had thought I was coming for breakfast pastries, I changed my mind and got 7 big pieces of chocolate cappucino cake. (Jelly roll style, middle filled with cappucino cream and a little strawberry jelly) I also bought an assorted box of mini-desserts. (twentyish mini-Cakes, eclairs etc) The bill? 12E and change. Yes, each amazing cake piece (large but not cheesecake factory stupidly large) was a whopping .85E (so a dollar) Yeah, so cheap.

We walked back. I was surprised how quickly it turned cold. The sun was low in the sky and the temperature dropped as we walked the 15 minutes home.

Mobbed again on return. Aleks let the surprise out that we had cake. (the kids surmised I went for dessert however) I received the OK from the wife to show them before dinner. I showed the mini-cakes off first. Oohs and ahh. The cappucino jelly roll cake? Literally gasps, and bug eyes from every one of my children. Then jumping around and cheering, even from my normally reserved eldest daughter and eldest son. (We have eldest daughters and sons now! Tee hee!)

Dinner was tasty, as usual. (Thanks Wendy) Asian inspired chicken and vegetables with rice. Wendy and I each had a beer. Kids asked for tastes of mine. Nauris pretends to like it. (I know he doesn't, he just has to keep up with Jaenelle, who does in fact like beer) Dite choked down her pinky finger depth (in a tiny juice glass to boot) of my dark beer. There is a game of "taste dad's beer" now when I am willing to let them. I think it's important not to treat alcohol like a magic potion. My parent's didn't. Wendy's didn't either. She told me she liked to taste her dad's beer when she was little. (I tried too, but I did not like it) Perhaps they won't have problems, and perhaps that's why neither Wendy nor I had serious booze issues in college. (New Orleans is it's own issue, I certainly partied to much there, but I was never a heavy boozer, not like guys I knew)

Drama this evening. Kids played hide and seek and broke one of the curtain rods in hiding behind the curtains by pulling on them. Cracked a bracket that holds it up. I'll have to find a replacement or lose part of our deposit. Wendy was furious. Not so much at the broken bracket, but that she had told them to say out of the window sills (they are low enough and big enough to sit in) and they had not minded. It wasn't one kid, it was all of them. With a long and stressful day as a parent, Wendy was thin on patience. (Making her mad is a bad thing kids) They
got the sharp side of her tongue, twice. In English and Latvian. (the best she could) My you should have seen their faces. Very sheepish. I decided it was time for all the kids to go to bed. An hour early or not. It would take them 20 minutes or more to all be ready anyway with one bathroom and five of them. When the little boys gave off sounds of playing and not getting on their PJ's she chewed on them again. A second time and I thought she was going to explode. It was time for me to step in. I am disciplinarian so often, I usually leave Wendy to do it when she takes on that role. She was at her wits end and need the assist. I calmly told her I would take care of it and it wasn't that big a deal. They were still only five years old after all.

I went in and explained mom was mad and they had better do what she said. Explaining that mom was actually angry got the boys to hop to. Crisis over. I'll look to see what I can do to fix it tomorrow. (I'll need a piece or new wall bracket, these aren't like normal ones I've seen in the US)

We've been to the park several times. Once after a light snow. Had a nice little snowball fight and the kids climbed trees. A promotion for Kung Fu Panda 3 showed up. Po the Panda himself. (Somebody in a Po costume) Kids met Po and we took pictures. Wendy took them today and Jaenelle played mamasita to two little tots at the park. Their parents commented on how good she was with little ones. (One couple was from Britain) Wendy also got to practice her Spanish as they ran into a Spaniard who had married a Latvian woman and was at the park with their little one too. Wendy got to throw the ball around with the kids, especially Nauris. He seemed to appreciate. that mom could throw. She commented on that he did indeed throw a nice spiral with an American football.

We did go to McDonald's on Saturday. The Latvians had never been and the Americans almost never went. It was fun. The quarter pounder (called a Royal here, just like the movie Pulp Fiction said it would be) was slathered in ketchup. Fries were good (as always) They didn't seem to have extra ketchup. The Big Mac, was the same as it always was) Aleks and Jack got little toys, hooray! Now we never have to go again! (Had to have a receipt to use the toilet, there was a code on the reciept that opened the door. Had to punch it in, wierd)

Saw Kung Fu Panda in Latvian. I got the gist. It's a kids flick. It makes sense even if you don't understand the language. Multi-level theatre. Assigned seats. They check your ticket at the door to the specific theatre. If you left, you needed your ticket. I went to get popcorn and found the theatre locked. Attendant was away and no people could get in. (emergency exit wasn't locked of course) Attendant showed up in less than a minute. Concession stand was a big area with a bunch of self-service stands. You could even get about 6-8 different types of beer. Stuff was crazy expensive, more than in US theatres for some things. Then you checked out. Like a junk food grocery store.

Had the funny experience of struggling to find which building the theatre was in. GPS wasn't helping. Then Nauris pointed out, "Uhh dad, zat von?" The building we were standing next to and walked by once? The one with the three story  tall banner for Kung Fu Panda 3? THAT is the theatre? Who knew? (yup, I'm an idiot sometimes)

Wendy made minestrone soup from scratch on Sunday. We had grilled cheese sandwiches with it. Some really tasty Latvian cheese Nauris picked out. Thanks Wendy!

Two days until the embassy meeting. Then Jaenelle's birthday and Easter holiday  (which is a big deal here) I wrongly thought the kids were raised eastern orthodox. I was wrong, they were raised Lutheran. Most of Latvia is. German influence for the first 500 years of the nation's existence will do that. They aren't interested in church. We will ask periodically if they want to go. If they want to keep it up, fine if not, fine. They can decide later if they want to follow any faith. We don't think children should be indoctrinated or much more than exposed until they understand the beliefs they are espousing.

The kids' foster father, Janis was in Riga Monday. Their oldest had a doctor appointment. He gave us a treasure trove! Many pictures of the kids when they were younger. Not baby pictures, but from 3 or 4 years ago. Time in school, maybe even in the orphanage. Dite use to have short hair! All the kids also received little presents for Easter. Cardboard bi-plane kits for the boys a cute hat for Jaenelle (the size of a large dolls hat, but with clips on it, it's meant to be worn in the hair as an accessory) A jufmp rope for Dite and candy for all of them. Wendy got a fancy chocolate bar, I received a decorative spoon from Bauska, with their town name and crest on it. Very generous and meaningful from two wonderful people.

We should receive the visas on Tuesday the 29th. Home on the 31st! Tickets are puchased. VERY reasonable this time (they weren't bad before, but $100 less a ticket for one ways this time)

It seems strange that this trip will end. It seems strange that this little apartment and neighborhood with old buildings and cobblestone streets isn't our families home. It is all we have known as this family of seven. I guess it is our home. Our first home. Now we move to the home we will live our lives in. Honeymoon is coming to an end. We will get to walk these streets just a little while longer. Again in a few months too, though we will stay in a hotel, an apartment isn't needed for just a week. Then not again for years probably.

Ok, this is long and it is late. It's getting busier than it has been. Will really need to work on things every day so we can be ready and not ignore the kids to prep for travel the last couple of days.

Day 19

Whooee. What a ride!

I'll post more often so the posts aren't so long.

The boring stuff.

Doctor's appointment was uneventful. Doctor Caune is very experienced and competent from what I can tell. When she talked to the children and asked them what language they wanted to talk to her in, Latvian, Russian, English, French or German, umm yeah. I would bet she knew what she was doing.

Slight delay, the ministry hadn't sent one paper to her, but they emailed it to her.

Spoke with her at length. She is unconcerned about their health. Posture problems are due to self-esteem (frankly we haven't seen it but a bit in Dite) because of their environment. Aleks, might have a bit of Asthma. We do notice a bit of a cough without other symptoms. Nothing to worry about, just watch.

They are behind on some vaccinations. Not enough to prevent issuing visas, but too much to prevent immigration to the USA. They will get some shot when we get to the US. MMR boosters for Dite and Aleks. Menengitis for Nauris. Chicken Pox for all. TB tests for all. (TB tests show negative, but they aren't recent enough to satisfy the US gov't)

We spoke at length on their real challenges. These are going to be behavioral and mental. (more on that later) The doctor was very concerned that some of the abuse of Dite was more serious. She warned us to be vigilant. She was too young, even now to talk about it with her directly.  Best to be watchful and be aware. She did note that all the children are very artistic. Dite and Nauris with drawing and painting. Aleks in music. She theorized that their biological mother may have been rather artistic as well. The children all have this trait and she gave them unusual names (well two of them) additionally, middle names are uncommon in Latvia and all the children have them Dite's name, doesn't exist on Latvian registries. It's effectivelty made up unless their mother stole it from Sweedish (no way know this without contacting her and I am not about to)

Overall, the children are bright, happy and still want to go with us to the US. (She asked them this privately) Mission accomplished (I really should get a banner and an aircraft carrier when I say that, it worked for W. right?)

That leads to some of the more interesting stuff. Here is a bombshell.

Naruis is a year older than we previously thought. We believed him six months younger than Jaenelle. Birth certificate says otherwise. Our attorney pointed out it must be an error by the ministry. The birth certificate is certainly correct.
So he could potentially be in the same grade as Jaenelle. Realistically, because their mother kept him out of school to start, he's only in the fourth grade. So he might be a year older but a year behind in school. He's bright enough though, Des Moines schools might place him in the correct grade and just get him to catch up. (Which I have no doubt in his abillity to do)

Jaenelle didn't take it too well. She had hung her hat on still being the eldest, now she is not. After a talk we got her to accept she didn't so much lose that positon but gained a twin. (well sort of) What's more, she is MUCH more advanced academically than he is currently and knows the culture and language. Nauris being six months older means bupkus. It explains better why he is bigger than she is.

We went to McDonald's. The Latvian trio had never been and I made a promise in high school that if I went to a foreign country, I would try to visit McDonald's just to say I did. It is no better really. A bit cheaper. A Big Mac is a Big Mac. Kids liked it well enough. Great, now we can um, never go again until we visit another country.

We saw Kung Fu Panda 3, in Latvian. Interesting. I didn't understand the language but I got the gist of the story. Kids had a good time. They needed some distraction. They are a bit bored. They burn through activities often and since they aren't attending school all day, it can be tough to occupy their time. We refuse to use the TV or electronics to babysit frequentSaturday morning, yes we streamed some Looney toons cartoons for an hour or so. That is a LONG time in our household. They didn't get other screentime today. Call us old school. We expect our kids to do stuff. Read, play outside, read, color, read, write, read, play with toys. Did we mention read?

Rather cold the last two days. Even the Latvians thought it was cold. So no playing outside. It snowed a bit today. Kids are a bit stir crazy. They are going outside tomorrow come hell or high water.

Aleks has been a real handful. Tough to get to mind sometimes. Climb and jumps of the furniture, smacks his siblings and me occasionally, stands at dinner, refused to eat tonight, is obsessed with the Ipad and can't always stand it  he has to wait. A host of other small things. Most frustrating is sometimes he simply tells us to get bent, more or less. He either ignores us or laughs at us and continues to do whatever he isn't supposed to do. Before you all give us advice, we have seen this a bit with our two first children (though never to this extent) the main problem is language. We can't always correct him on what he is doing. Stop, No and sit down don't work for everything (that's what we know in Latvian) Sure we know a bit more but it's tough to explain disobedience to a five year old, impossible to do it when you have to rely upon a translation app. The idea is just too complex. We try but it doesn't work well. It's just something we have to gut through and keep working on. We have made some headway. He wipes his own butt now and doesn't ask for help. He usually remembers to wash his hands and flush after going to the bathroom. He was just particularly tought today.

Those that know me well, know I can be to fearsome, frankly if she's mad, so is Wendy. I don't want to relate to my youngest son through anger and frustration constantly, but it's hard. I can make Jaenelle and Jack dance a jig with a sharp three words and glower and Nauris certainly understand our tone when it turns sharp. Aleks you about have to terrify or grab to get him to pay attention.  What's funny is, he's not always that way. So this is certaninly more of the attention starvation coming to the fore.

I had to pull him out of the street today. I took the youngest three home after lunch and Wendy took the two eldest to help her carry. It was a fairly broad sidewalk and Aleks doesn't typically stray near the street. He is independent enough he doesn't want to always hold somebody's hand. Usually, no issues. I looked at a sign in front of the Latvian Museum of Occupation (dedicated to their German and Soviet occupation from 1940 to 1991) Not ten seconds and he is 10 feet away  (when he had be two) on the curb and backing into the street with a car coming maybe a block and a half away. Needless to say, I had a hold of and the scruff of his neck (well his coat) the last block home.

The challenge at home is if we are too sharp with our tone, it scares the hell out of Dite. Too much like before. We asked Dite and Nauris if Aleks was like this in Bauska with their foster mother? Answer:Yes. We have our work cut out for us.

Been a bit of a struggle to get Dite to take our directions more seriously. Ok well mine. She obeys Wendy instantly almost all the time. Me? I'm a big joke. I play alot, and it's how I broke the ice, so I get it. It's hard having to tell a nine year old to go to bed five or six times. It's not that she doesn't get it, she literally just wants to hang out with me. About half the time when she is interacting with me she is poking, tickling or otherwise wrestling with me. Its fun for the first two hours. Today was almost all day. If Jaenelle wasn't playing with her or we weren't eating, Dite was in my face. All the way up through bedtime.

I love her to pieces. Really I do. Did drive me crazy today though. On the way back from the doctor's office, the discussion of her past and the potential problems we need to watch out for had me all protective again. Wendy asked later if it bothered me and made me protective.  "You bet your ass it did." I replied  "I wanted to bite anything that came within ten feet of her. Trees, cars, the wind." That earned a chuckle, she knew I was serious, though.

I get it. She is using play as a defense mechanism. My guess is, if her mother was happy, Dite was safe. If we are playing, I am happy, so she is safe. She pushes me to smile if I am not. I genuinely think she loves me now. I get a whole bevy of hugs and kisses, unsolicited. She is  occasionally content to just sit with me. She likes having this new playful father. I love having another goofy daughter. (Yes, Jaenelle is goofy, when she isn't taking her self to seriously) It's exhausting trying to get Aleks to behave and stay off the walls, furniture and out of things he can break or injure him, and fight off a nine year old girl smitten with her father. I think Nauris was jealous today of all the attention his siblings received.

Tonight at bed, Aleks was a pistol to settle down. After 30 minutes down, Jack came out of their room and complained Aleks was pushing him and taking up most of the double bed they share. We'd had this problem before. Jack is bigger than Aleks and if he were of the temperament to settle things physically, that would be the end of it. Jack is like my younger bother Nathan though. He won't do it. He's a pacifist by nature.

That was it, we made Nauris switch into the bed with Jack and Aleks the smaller single. I could tell immediately Nauris was upset, but as our dutiful now eldest, we complied. I immediately changed my mind. That wasn't fair, it was like punishing Nauris. He had done nothing wrong. I let Nauris return to his bed. I trotted Aleks out to the living room. We have an extra bed/cot (more than a cot, less than a full bed) we haven't been using since Jack and Aleks fit nicely on the double. We put Aleks down on the cot in the living room, bright lights and all. I told him in Latvian, if he can't behave, then he doesn't get to sleep in his own  room. He was very sullen. Wendy was as adamant as I. Wendy ran out to Narvessen (Think Quick Trip) for coffee, soda and beer. (not all for tonight) I  talked with him further. Made it clear he had to obey and listen to us.

He lay in his new bed and we ignored him. He fell asleep and after a bit i returned him to the bed in his room. We think that may be the solution.  Make Aleks start out with us, where he can't bother his brothers, then move him.
Adapt, adjust and persevere.

Sounds like it's all bad. Today was tough, but even most of today was pretty good. Wendy's French T toast went over well at breakfast. Lunch I wrote about. Dinner of "kitchen sink salads" (a little but of everything and big enough to make a meal) was acceptable. Jack and Aleks each ate so slowly they took an extra 15 minutes to finish. They each ate and responded to our prodding well enough. Lots of fun and play and such throughout the day. The challenges were just more frequent and a bit more challenging. It will be easier when we get home. More space so we aren't always on top of each other. More stuff to do. Other kids in the neighborhood, warmer weather.

I contacted the travel agent to come home on the 31st. Arrive back on the 1st of April, no fooling.  That's not the end of this. It's just the end of the beginning.

Until next time true believers. (name that allusion)

Two weeks since! Gotcha Day!

Has it really been five days since I wrote last. Yes, it has as my sister and mother-in-law reminded me.

My apologies, been busty, I caught a cold, a mess at home in Iowa.

So we've had some interesting times. Most good, some not so good, one bad.

The bad. (I always start with the bad)

Duke and Chance, our dogs, stopped getting along while we have been gone. Apparently, only our strong presence was keeping the peace. I'm not going to go into details, but our housesitter has been replaced (thanks Sean for taking up the burden) and Duke will be rehomed before we come home if at all possible. We cannot bring these kids home to a house with big dogs that won't get along. It's possible our return would fix that, but we aren't going to take that chance. Chance stays Duke goes, end of story.

So other goings on. We went ice skating a couple of times. Correction, Wendy and the kids went ice skating. These crooked legs and feet do not ice skate. They loved it. Well, the older three did. Jack tried to skate but couldn't really, Wendy had to hold him up all the time. Aleks didn't know how and Wendy can only help one little kid at a time. Dite isn't too steady and fell often. Nauris loves hockey and is pretty good on skates though he could still work on turning and stopping. Jaenelle is the best, surprisingly. I took Jack and Aleks and played at the park. The skating rink is outside in the park, so it was easy to split them up. At the end of it the older kids were wet (from sliding and falling) and a bit cold. A good time.



Had another orphan court meeting today. 2.5 hours, one way to Nereta. The chairman had their new passports and their vaccination passports as well. She was too busy to make it back to Riga. I half think that she just wanted to see and talk to me again. I brought some of the schoolwork we have been doing. Letters in English. Math. For Nauris. division and multiplication and for Dite, Addition and subtraction with carrying and borrowing. The chairman approved. They were impressed we found (Wendy found) a "My first 1000 words in English" book that taught English to Latvian and Russian speakers.

In the meeting we talked about how things were going. I said it was going well but we have had some bumps. Nothing I would worry about too much, except one thing. We noticed that sometimes Dite is sad. We've even seen some tears. A couple of times it was when her brothers weren't very nice to her (I'll detail one incident later on) another was when we were playing a game for school (guess the English word for things we pointed at) she didn't do as well as her brother and was upset.

She typically slinks off to her room for a cry. We might otherwise let her be, but we need to know what is going on. The chairman gave us some more insight into what happened. No details, here or at any other time. Suffice to say it was bad enough to be awful, not as bad as what your imagination could come up
with. You want to know, ask my daughter when she is old enough and if she is willing to tell you. Hopefully, she won't remember it much by then.

The Chairman and attorney pointed out that in some ways, these two older children didn't have a childhood and that their mother really didn't love or care for them from day one. Certainly not after their father died. Their foster mother in Bauska was the first real mother they had. Nauris was six or seven by then, Dite a year younger. Though they had been in an orphanage for the two prior years, that's not a family with loving parents. That long without parents is a terrible thing. Bothers me just to think about it. People hurting children seems to push a button with me (I suppose it does with most people) People hurting my children, well that umm, let's not go there.

So Dite will require some extra care and attention. No problem. We've got that in spades. Wendy has had some challenges to get the older two to warm up to her. They are attentive and obedient, but not very affectionate. I would guess that is to be expected. The first mother they knew wasn't exactly an all-star, (or even a D league scrub) so we see a little hesitance with their interaction with her. It will come. As the language barrier comes down and they realize mom does fun things like bake cookies and pies, plays baseball better than dad and can take them for a jog (which apparently Nauris likes) they will be able to connect better with her. Aleks is a different challenge. He is so starved for attention, in an orphage to start his life and then in a foster home with six other kids? Yeah, individual attention was in short supply. He acts out, sometimes just for the attention, even if that attention is negative. He also is obedient but only momentarily, see if we will enforce what we say. Its like he thinks if he just tries it again (jumping on furniture, bothering his siblings, chewing with his mouth open, not washing his hands after he uses the bathroom etc) like we will forget or let it slide. BOY IS HE IN FOR A RUDE AWAKENING!!! I am the king of consistency (thanks Mom and Dad) I will stop whatever I am doing just to make sure children comply. (I'm kinda nutty like that) Wendy has quickly learned and frankly one of the few things we ever fight on is when she won't enforce what she has said or knows are the expectations in our household. Aleks needs this and will continue to need it. Word of warning to any grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends that want to watch him in the future. You HAVE to set the boundaries and you HAVE to enforce it like his and your life depended on it. Otherwise, he is going to run over you.

Nauris continues to impress with his ingenuity. He built car without any plans from his erector set. It even ran on it's wheels and had a light on top. He has started to push the envelope in his own way. He has a burgeoning rivalry with Jaenelle. They clearly enjoy each other's company, but he can be a bit of a shit sometimes. He doesn't always stop when told to lay off. I've watched him do it. It's not so much to test Jaenelle, but to test me. He's looking at me when he pokes her in the ribs or calls her an ostrich for the 20th time in 5 minutes. He's checking to see if he can get away with it. Newsflash, he can't. He seems to be able to tell when he is about to actually get in trouble and then he stops and doesn't go back. He's been mildly defiant a time or two as well. We argued over the rules in checkers (who knew the international rules and American rules were so different) and once with math he said he didn't know how to do. I looked up the rules and admitted I was wrong and let it slide that he didn't know how to do the math and didn't want to try at that time. He was being genuine,  I am not going to bawl him out over standing up for himself when he is right. When he speaks more English, I'll address the manner and tone, it wasn't all that snotty anyway. A scale of 1-10 it was a 3. I'll get alot worse when he is a teenager.

I showed Nauris how to do long division. He didn't understand until I showed him it was just multiplication, backwards  (more or less) Two digit by one digit was easy to grasp (56/8=7) Bigger was the challenge (112/8=14) He understood it, but when I gave him bigger numbers, he wanted to guess at it, not sit down and do the long math of factoring, subtracting and dropping the next number down. Once I showed him he had to in order to get the correct answer, it clicked. He needs practice on his mental math. Both he and Dite use their fingers to do anything past single digit subtraction and addition. Nauris can do a bit more from the top of his head, but not much. Flashcards here we come. Needing a calculator to do math is not an option.

Been working on carrying and borrowing with Dite. She just wants to use a calculator. Not gonna happen. Reasonably complex math in your head is a requirement or you don't graduate from Bryant prep school in Des Moines.(A very exclusive place of learning, only five students will ever attend) If you can't do what we require of you, well college will be a very expensive cost in your future. :-) I'm not worried. These kids are all pretty sharp. They just didn't have the best environment to start. Lilita and Janis got them started on the path and used to performing well and to expectations. We will take it from here.

Wendy has been working with the my youngest son as I work with the older kids and Jack. She's done a great job. He's working on letters in English, his name. Numbers, colors. Stuff that mostly the older kids have down. It's really allowed her to bond with Aleks. He has begun to mind better in the last couple of days, though he really requires one eye on him at all times. More like a three year old than a five year old in that sense. It will come. We alskeready see the growth in him.

We did have one serious sit down talk with Dite and Nauris. A couple of days ago we realized Dite had retreated to her room and I went to see what was the matter. I found her quietly crying sitting on her bed. We thought Aleks might have hit her for some reason. I asked what was wrong, she didn't want to say. I pressed her gently for an answer. She said Nauris hit her. Yes, for some reason he became annoyed with his sister and hit her. She said she wasn't hurt and it didn't matter. Oh was she wrong. She needed our support and to understand what our rules and approach are and know we will protect her. All systems go! Daddy thrusters to 100%

I knew this time would come, at point we would have to tell the kids we knew what had happened to them.While this was much earlier than I intended, this was the perfect teachable moment. We couldn't pass this up, and we couldn't  have Dite have any concerns that any sort of violence would be tolerated. We HAVE to do this to begin rebuilding her self-esteem and ensuring she is strong enough to face the world when she is an adult.  I called Wendy into the bedroom and explained what happened. We called Nauris in.

We asked him if it was true that he hit his sister. He made an excuse immediately. I cut him off. I wasn't even going to try and translate it. I knew an excuse when I heard it, by tone alone. I said in no uncertain terms, it was never OK to hit your bother or sister, ever. Then the tears flowed out of both of the kids. Great, I had made all my new children cry in less than two weeks!(It's a requirement for fatherhood I think) Nauris knew he was wrong and he was sensitive to our serious disapproval.

I then told them we knew something of what their mother had done. They both stared at us. More tears. (no wailing, just tears, what do you expect, loud crying probably only made it worse) They looked sheepish and a bit afraid. We told them we were not like her. That's why it was never OK it hit your siblings. I pointed out to Nauris, especially your sister. He looked knowingly at me. He knew better than I did what she was the primary focus of. He clearly felt bad. We showed them the paperwork that said they would never ever have to go back to her. They would never have to worry about that again. We didn't go into the details that they weren't legally our children yet and won't be permanently our children for months. It was enough to know what they did. We asked them if they wanted to say anything. They didn't. We asked if they were upset with us, they weren't. We sat quietly. I got them some kleenex. After a couple of minutes,  we asked them if they wanted lunch. They were non-committal. I asked if they wanted insects. There were smiles. Playful Dad was back and so were happy kids and mom.

While this was the first time, we assume it won't be the last. Dite cried in her room today and wouldn't say what it was, even when I asked. Nauris didn't know what was wrong. She insisted she was happy. I was gone all afternoon for the meeting. Wendy struggled a bit with all five but it worked out. I was mobbed when I left and mobbed when I came home. Wendy said Nauris seemed a bit pensive to have just her around, though Dite was fine, but missed her dad. We went out for dinner to a place that advertised Latvian food. It's a short walk from our apartment. Dite was glued to me and even Nauris, while not looking to hold my hand like his sister, was close by for a while.

It's really odd being the focal point of the family. When it was just the four of us, it was certainly Wendy. It's changed entirely. It may be it's because I'm around constantly, and like my own parents, I've got an opinion on everything that goes on. (Hi Dad! Love ya!) It could be that there is some reluctance to focus on Wendy by the older two because of some distrust of mother figures. Though they certainly showed affection to Lilita. It could be too that they had no father figure early on and even Janis they considered more of a grandfather (he's in his early 71 Lilita 63 ) so I guess I'm sort of a novelty. I am also a big kids at heart. So I play, tickle and roughhouse like a kid. I'm not so good at other things, but I do know how to play better than anybody I know. It's probably a combination of all these things. Wendy's noticed it. Bruno (our attorney) simply assumes that I am the head of the household, as does the orphan court. If they only knew how often I defer to Wendy, they might think otherwise. Then again, if they have seen me draw the line in sand, I guess they are probably right. That said, I still wasn't the focus of parental attention, affection and approval. Now I am.

I think Wendy is a bit jealous, though she did said to me that she has enjoyed seeing this experience bring out the best in me. Dutiful, dillegent, patient (crazy I know) sensitive (even crazier) and playful. She said it's nice seeing the good side of me. Certainly there have been times that she and the kids didn't see my best traits and saw too much of the worst (sorry about that) I'm not the perfect father, but I certainly have to be a better one.

Rambling thought train ahead sorry. Sorry, I'm going to talk about my family and past. If this might embarrass or bother you skip several paragraphs.

So I was thinking on the slow car ride back from Nereta. First, it really bothered me that anybody hurt my children. Whether or not they were my children then, bothers me, alot. I won't dwell on it, but I won't ever be OK with it. Then I thought that of course this would bother any parent, or should anyway.  My own father has never been a terribly demonstrative father. It's not his way and is typical for his generation. I certainly received affection from him, but as he said to me once long ago, "A father's job is to provide for his children and make sure they grow up and know what is right. It's not really a father's job to love their children." This is hogwash of course, and my own father doesn't really believe that either. It's just a way for him to say he way for him to say he wasn't a fuzzy teddy bear. No kidding? Who knew? :-) Doing those things is love, or part of it. Certainly my mother was the one that read to us at night and stayed up if we were sick and kissed our boo-boos when we fell down. My father was neither callous, nor uncaring nor distant. I don't feel that I was the least bit starved for affection from my father. Was he more distant than me with my kids? Sure, but if I were much more involved with my kids, I'd start to smother them. (Outside of abuse worst thing as a parent is to be uncaring, second is to be smothering and coddling, all the research shows it)

Why all this insight into my past? It explains why all of this, seems to me a bit ill-fitting? Me? He who was dedicated to wine, women and song? Married and now with five kids? What the hell happened? How did I get here ? (and the days go by...)

I don't know why I convinced Wendy to do this. I really don't. It wasn't to get my parent's  or other's approval. I don't work that way. I am as likely to do things to spite other people. I didn't do it because I have some higher calling. I don't believe in such things in the least. I didn't think our family was incomplete. Frankly, our little family was very easy and comfortable. While I do tend to seek out challenges and push the envelope, I wouldn't embark on this sort of a journey just to get a thrill. What kind of an A-hole would I be? No, I don't know why I wanted to do this.  I guess I just felt that we could do more, I could do more. What am I good at? Well, our kids seemed pretty good. I guess I am good at being a father or atleast being half of the team with Wendy. So let's do more of that.

Part of it is purpose. I used to think my purpose in life was to be successful and wealthy. Perhaps a leader of some kind. Then it was to be a teacher. Now I realize my purpose, to be a father, a good one and do good things. I don't need more than that. If at the end of my life all I've ever really done is be a good father, husband, friend, bother and son, I've done enough. Let other people worry about wealth or fame or leaving their mark on history. I've got five little time capsules I will send off into the future. That seems like enough.

I did think about what my father said to me a few nights ago. He told me he was very proud of Wendy and I for what we are doing. (thanks Dad, sorry if this reveals a bit more about our relationship than you might prefer, it seems to fit and it's important) Course, I didn't do it for that reason. He didn't think I had. (a wise man) Honestly, I can only remember a few times my father has ever told me he was proud of me. Once when I was very successful in school, sports and music. Once when he noted how independent I was after college and launching myself into adulthood (those are my words) Certainly he has expressed approval of me and of what I had done many times, but rarely has he ever come out and expressed it. It was very meaningful to hear that from him. He may not have known it, but I got a bit choked up to hear it. I may not always agree with my father but I certainly respect him. His respect and admiration are hard to earn. It certainly helps to focus my thoughts to hear it. (Thanks again Dad, for everything, every kid, even grown ones need to hear that sort of a thing from their parents occasionally)

END RANDOM SENTIMENTAL THOUGHT TRAIN

So we have been pushing the kids on some foods. I made cajun shrimp etoufee on Tuesday. Dite and Aleks refused to eat it. Dite at least tried it, but she says she doesn't like fish. Nauris enjoyed it, though he was a bit surprised by it's spicy nature. We did find real Tabasco. He seems to relish the idea of trying to keep up with his father on things. He fits right in with Jaenelle and Jack in that. He puts five drops on his dinner, I put five hard shakes.  He did stop at one point, wide eyed, gasp and reach for his milk. He has a bit to go yet. Hur hur hur. I told him I had a hot sauce at home, so hot it hurt me. (My Melinda's Ghost Pepper Sauce) His response was "Ja? Let's go!" Jaenelle of course wanted in on the competition when we get home. I told him it's so hot it hurts your backside coming out (sorry TMI there) Dite giggled and Nauris was quiet for a moment and said. "Let's go!" He may be sorry, my eldest boy has to learn sometime right? (if you aren't sure how hot this is, it's a sauce that I use in drops rather than shakes. It's about 2-4 times hotter than most habanero sauces I've had. It's wicked stuff)

We made tacos Wednesday. Those went over much better. They had never had them before. We made ground chicken tacos. We also took them to a Turkish restaurant for lunch when we were out earlier this week. They were very unsure and just wanted to order french fries. Sure I , said but you have to have something else too. Turkish chicken gyro (more or less) it was and it went over well. Taco sort of looked like the previously tested gyro so they all dove in. They were very interested in watching us build the tacos. We lay out the ingredients on the table and let people build their own with the ingredients they want. It was fun and they seem to eat just about anything but fish. A little bit of push back on vegetables by Aleks but he gives in, especially if we tell him there is no dessert for children who don't eat their vegetables. Say what you like about like about not making food a big deal. Understanding that children eat what is provided is how Wendy and I were both raised and we aren't changing that. Dite and Aleks will learn to eat fish and seafood like it or not, but we aren't going to push it right now. Eating what your parents provide is one of those rules that don't get to be questioned. Sort of like the one about if the parents are paying for things, they get to have a say in things. The "my house my rules" rule.

Warning, rant on parenting incoming. 
No matter how liberal I am, that rule ain't up for discussion. We pay, we say. What you wear (within reason) Your hair, your friends, where you go to school (if we are paying) Actiltvities, (no you can't join a second travel basketball team, one is enough) We get to say, even if you are an adult, if you are in our house or we are paying for something. (then again, a child that is legally an adult that isn't on thier own and doesn't understand their junior position still isn't very much of an adult)

Certainly my kids can come and discuss anything they want. Jaenelle has, upon occasion, asked to stay up late or to be excused from some duty or asked for an alternative consequnce. Often, we do agree. There is something to be said for a well reasoned argument from your child, regardless of their age. If my child has the maturity to come to me and ask for something, it is my responsibility to give it consideration, even if my initial inclination is negative. My children will learn however, as I believe all children should, we can talk about something but in the end, what Wendy and I decide is final, period. It's not a democracy and never will be.

Parents reserve the right to be wrong in their own house. It's not that we can't be wrong, my parents have been wrong plenty in their own house, everybody's has. It's that they have the right to be wrong and I can accept it or leave. I will teach my kids the same thing. Don't like X? Get a job and pack and my rules don't matter do they? I suppose there are a few things that parents can't do, I shouldn't interfere with my children's parenting of their own children or spousal relationship even if they are in my house, but that should be obvious.

Wendy and I slept in separate rooms in my parents' and her parents' house even when we were engaged. Hell, when I was a teenager, I couldn't even have a girl in the house if my parents weren't home, let alone have her in my room. Seems an appropriate position to me. I can't wait until the first time one of the kids asks to have an opposite sex "friend" stay over. (newsflash! parents ain't stupid) Oh the stories they will get! Followed by a "No" a petulant "but I'm X years old" and "Bobby's parent's allow it" culminating in an "Over my dead body." Does this sound familiar to anybody?  Rant off. Sorry about that, I am sure there is somebody that needed to hear that.

We found out Nauris is a big soccer fan. He also had a skateboard in Bauska. They each either had or had access to bicylcles. Aleks does not yet know how to ride. Luckily, we the glide bike that taught Jack how to ride and we still have the smaller girls bike we inherited from Wendy's sister, Rhonda (thanks again) When we were out shopping, I did offer to the kids the opportunity buy a toy with the points they had earned in school (I'm not above bribery, homeschooling is tough)
Aleks picked out a car, Jack did to initially, then decided he wanted a candy bar like his eldest sister and older brother. Dite was reluctant to ask for anything. This grocery store had a small selection of princess Barbie dolls. I asked her if she wanted one. Her eyes went wide at the idea. They had a few to choose from, and she chose Rapunzel from the Tangled movie (not sure if that was Disney or not) She was deliriously happy at the prospect of having doll. She immediately named the doll Jaenelle. I wonder if she likes her older sister? 12E? meh, to make my new daughter happy? I'd pay 1200. Anyway, Jaenelle doesn't play with her dolls anymore except her American Girl (thanks Mom and Aunt Mary Lou)
so Dite is in for quite the surprise when she inherits a good half dozen or more Barbie dolls from Jaenelle and sees the big playmobil  Victorian dollhouse her Houston relatives got for Jaenelle several years ago. Jaenelle has already resolved to give these to Dite, even before we left for Latvia. Jack has also promised to give half of his superheroes to his brothers.

Before anybody goes and buys skateboards, soccer balls, bikes, dolls or other things, please ask us first. We don't want 10 skateboard, 5 extra bikes and 50 dolls. We have a whole bunch of stuff already. They even have a good amount of clothes so no shopping sprees from Grandma's, aunties or other interested parties. :-) Once we get back to the states we can figure out things. Dite's birthday is in June, you will have plenty of opportunity to spoil them rotten. We must not forget, Jaenelle's is the 27th of March, in just ten days. My eldest and firstborn will be eleven.  *sigh* they grow so fast. She's so mature, it's hard to think of her as a kid.

Not much left to say. Doctor tomorrow morning to verify their vaccination records. Court on the 22nd. Home by the 1st or 2nd. Then the long work of incorporating them into American society and culture begins. Returning to work? What the hell do I do again?

We know everybody is eager to see them. Please understand that they really aren't ready to interact with people yet. They are comfortable with us, more or less, but we aren't sure about others. They are very quiet around others. The orphan court, even Latvians in restaurants or in public that speak to them, they are very quiet and reserved. We will let you know when they are ready. No big welcome home receptions, no stopping by "just to meet them." No parties. We are rather firm on this. The time will come, we promise. They need to grasp the language more and become more comfortable with well, everything. Making them the center of attention even to a few strangers might not be the best.


Ok. Ridiculously long post. I will try to do better and not go so long.

Labvakar! (good evening)

Day nine

Nothing too exciting this one will be short.

Today had a few interesting  events.

We had a quiet morning. We planned to go out to play, for the first time since we got here it was sunny. 40 degrees seemed balmy. Right before we left Aleks became frustrated with Dite and smacked her a good one. I don't think it hurt that much, but it hurt her feelings. With her previous experiences, it's not that surprising. Aleks got a significant time out, and I worked out enough in Latvian that he had to apologize. Dite was upset that she got hit and as much that she was afraid that Aleks was in big trouble. He was, but perhaps she thought more was going to happen than did. Speaks to her early history. Kids have figured out a scolding from dad isn't much fun. My tone and look on my face seems to do the trick. It all worked out. Wendy talked with Dite a bit and Aleks apologized.

We had a nice time at the playground. Threw the balls around. Kids played tag. Nauris can really throw. He's taken to the American Football nicely. His favorite sport is futbol of course (soccer) but he's learned to throw the Nerf football and has a nice spiral.

We did some shopping in the artist's section of old town. Earrings and a pendant for mom and the girls. I got a keychain and we got a clock. All handmade by this gentleman and his father. Clock and keychain are wood carving with amber, everything else is amber and silver.  Amber is the national stone of Latvia.

Another trip to the Central market. We split off so I could find shrimp. We hadn't found the fish pavilion. I found it on the far side of the market. I was in fish heaven. Eels, mussels, fish of all kinds. Fresh, smoked, frozen. Shrimp weren't plentiful except for one seller. Some of it was frozen, but it's what I needed for Etoufee. 5.80E a kilo is expensive for meat here. Though that was cheap. There was in the 12-15E a kilo range. You could get real sturgeon caviar for only 25E a something (certainly not kilo) Wendy has never had it. I will get some and she can try it. I haven't had it in years. Crazy expensive in the States, stuff that is any good anyway. My other quest is to eat some eel here, it's supposedly excellent and is traditional here. The idea of having a fresh sardine sandwich makes me hungry just thinking about it and I am currently full from dinner.

One really cool thing happened last night though. As I put the kids to bed (well it takes both of us, they are squirrely) I gave Jaenelle a hug and a kiss and told her I loved her, the way I do every night.  I then moved over and gave Dite the same. She often plays coy. She was reluctant to show physical affection as quickly as her brothers. Entirely understandable. She has started hugging me and saying "mans tetis" it means "my daddy." That's nice. Last night though as I moved to give her a hug, she kissed me on the cheeks.  My first kisses from her! THAT is memorable. So not earthshattering, but something I will remember certainly.

Off to put the kids to bed. Maybe I'll get kisses again.

Days Seven and Eight

So not an significant and the stuff that is, isn't all that interesting.

We continue to evolve as a family. Nauris and Jaenelle are often a matched pair. They continue to tease each other. They also learn and play together. They have been working with the Erector set (or the German version thereof)

Dite plays with everybody. Chess with Jack (he beats her, I don't think she knows all the rules) Checkers with him too, (she wins that, she knows those rules)
Aleks and Jack play together often, though sometimes Jack gets frustrated with his impetuous younger brother.

They are learning that sometimes, mom and dad need some quiet, and playing quietly makes mom and dad happy. Of course we take them outside (its just above freezing everyday and that's not going to change much, it might make 40 one day soon, then back down to 35 or so) and we have gotten used to the cold.

We went to the Latvian War museum yesterday. Latvia has a "hard" history, as Bruno calls it. 700 years of German/Prussian domination. Independence after WWI but only for 20 years. Occupations by the Soviets, then Germans then Soviets again during WWII. 50 years of Soviet occupation and an attempt to exterminate the population and language by moving Russians in and Latvians out.  As Bruno put it "We waited for you" (meaning the Americans and the West) "We waited for fifty years" he said to us this morning. That's sad. We really did sell Eastern and Central Europe out to the Soviets after WWII. In hindsight, a war with them after defeating Germany would have been preferable. Then again, we didn't know the cold war would evolve.

I am glad Latvia is free and they have such a strong connection to the West. May they be free forever. They don't know it but after learning more of their history, now I have a keen interest in learning it. For my own benefit and that of my children. I asked Nauris if he knew Latvian history, he indicated only a little and Dite said she didn't know any. Looks like we will learn together.

Rough night last night. Wendy went shopping and I was charged with putting the kids to bed. I caught static at 8 when the bedtime routine starts. I actually had to yell at them. Even Jaenelle didn't respond the way she should have and of course, everybody else took their queues from the eldest. It wasn't bad, but I had to explain to the kids their father was angry because they wouldn't go to bed when told. Nauris and Jack were no trouble the rest got a good chewing on. Hur hur hur.

Aleks is turning out to be a bit of a handful. He continues to resist any English except as an annoyance. He will occasionally shout "Good Morning!" He is about 80% toilet trained. He uses the bathroom but doesn't wipe himself, we have to do it and he only washes his hands when told to do so. He knows he should. The other kids have caught him only running one finger under the water and calling it good. We are working on that and he is startingo remember on his own, or at least try to fulfill those expectations.

Dite has taken to Wendy and I more, especially me. She tries to play with me alot. It may  be her way to try and get ahold of our electronics. She loves the Ipad and my phone. She and Aleks tried to use them so often without permission, we changed our passwords on the devices so they couldn't just hop on.  Dite does seem more confident with us and willing to give and receive affection. Actually, they all do.

The meeting with the Orphan court went well. We printed pictures of the new house and they seemed to approve. They were impressed with the size of the house and the yard. (success!) We went to the ministry and applied for the children's new passports. We didn't really need to be there. The orphan court chair acts as their legal guardian right now. They didn't need us for anything.

Next is a doctor's visit on the 18th to get their medical records and ensure they have all the appropriate paperwork for the travel visas. The orphan court still has their vaccination passports, Bruno was concerned we don't have them, but he said he would get them. We need to get photos of the kids for the vaccination passports and the actual visas.

Bruno gave us the translated decree for the termination of their birth mother's parentals rights. It doesn't detail what happened to them. Just that their mother is in prison until 2020 and that she has now made the statement that she thinks they will be better off with a new family. She tried for a while to see and inquire about the kids, but was told her youngest doesn't know who she is, and her older two refuse to see her. Dite reacts with fear at the prospect of speaking to or seeing her mother, Nauris is uninterested but the documents point out that he will stand in front of his sister to protect her if the topic is brought up. We know their mother is in prison for what she did to Dite, so that explains everything we need to know. Speaks volumes of our eldest boy too. That's OK, he doesn't have to protect her anymore, that's our job now. That's enough on that subject, it makes me all growly and stabby.

On the 22nd we will become their legal guardians. Then an appointment with the embassy on the 24th. Due to the Easter holiday (which is a big deal here, not so much for the church but it coincides with a significant pagan holiday too) we won't get the visas until the 29th. Probably head home the 30th or 31st.

Oh one interesting thing. We walked around more of this pedestrial mall area in old town and found this really neat area with art sellers. Found a man that was selling beautiful jewelry and other items with amber, which is the national stone of Latvia. Apparently, the stuff literally washes up on the sea shore and river banks. Most of Latvia was all coastline once upon a time and the soil is rather sandy. We got to see that when we walked by some workers digging a big hole in one of the streets. Anyway, we will look to get all the girls something there. It was very reasonable (20 or 30E tops for most things) and it was all handmade by the man we spoke to (well him or his father) It was beautiful. I am not typically a fan of yellow or brown, but this stuff really 'was nice. Wish he had something more appropriate for us fellas. Perhaps we will find something.

We've done a fair bit of walking in Riga. The architecture is very interesting. Lots of buildings that are a few hundred years old. Some are brightly painted. The French Embassy is an almost robin's egg blue. Ochre and pinkish are common as well.

Apparently Riga is a largest Baltic city. It's central position in Latvia and between the two other Baltic states (Estonia to the North, Lithuania to the South) makes it something of a hub. Lots of interesting places to eat and many influences. Japanese, Turkish and American burger joints are common. We came accross a Cuban bar and an Uzbek cafe as well. Unsurprisingly, fish is popular. When a good 1/2 of your country or more is an hour or less from the sea, that makes sense. We will look to try some of  the local cuisine. Unknowingly, we made a local dish. Pork roast with sauerkraut. Apparently, kraut is popular and families often have their own receipes. A number different kinds are available in the central market. We had brussel sprouts and stewed homemade apple sauce that Wendy made. Finished with little chocolate cakes I picked up from a pastry shop. (sort of like a Ho-ho, but with richer, better cake and no frosting, covered in shredded coconut. These we .45E each! Dessert for a family of seven for 3.05E? I'll take that any day of the week and twice on days ending in Y. (in English of course, no days end in Y in Latvia, they don't use the letter Y at all. Wendy's name is often Wendi, our last name they  do just use it as it is understood that it's a name. Funny, since Briant is the original French spelling of our family name)

I could write pages on the quality  and cost of the food we find here. I bought 1 kilo of onions yesterday for .80 E, basically a dollar. 1 kilo is 2.25 lbs. Onions for fifty cents a pound? Broccoli for 1.50E a kilo? Carrots for .80? Mandarin oranges for .80E (50 cents a pound!) It's heaven for people who cook. The blog we read that said food was expensive was nuts. Pre-prepared food is fairly expensive, anything that takes any processing too. So milk, juice, cereal etc. Raw ingredients are ridiculously inexpensive. We may have to shop every two days, but we feel like we are stealing. I bought some meat I thought was beef. It's not. I read an article that said that 90% of beef in Latvia was smuggled into the country because of the tight restrictions on sourcing and labeling. I think this stuff may be venison. It's not pork. The seller described it as young (something I didn't understand) I thought perhaps it was veal or lamb. The translations I've looked up don't match though. So, mystery red meat steaks for dinner.  (this was expensive at 5.00E a kilo, as though $2.75 a pound is expensive) What we wouldn't give for Latvian central market back home in Des Moines.

That's enough for now. Feel free to ask questions, here or on Facebook. We would be happy to answer.

TTFN!

Captain's Log: Supplemental

So I've learned the word for now. Tagad really means, 'right now.' Eyes went wide when I used that two days ago. My tone made it clear, it wasn't a question and I knew exactly what I had said.

Aleks sometimes doesn't respond to it. Correction, sometimes he's just defiant. The solution to that is 'OK' and to come towards him and make it clear it's going to be a time out. (bed or chair)

Just had to do that to get him to be quiet in his bed. Wendy had made him sit in our room for a bit the other night when he wouldn't settle down. I did that tonight. I closed the door and I heard a screech and shouting and laughing. (all from him, his brother's I could hear were annoyed) I came in and commanded 'nakt' (come) and pointed into our room. He refused. Tagad. (in an even more commanding voice, thanks Dad) Again refused. "Ok" and I didn't take two steps and he was up and out of bed trotting into our room. Sat him down, told him I loved him but he had to go to bed, no more talking. (in my best broken Latvian) He was sullen but smiled when I told him I loved him. He trotted back to bed happily in a minute or two. Who says I can't learn a new thing or two about how to handle kids.

Reinforces my long held belief (thanks Mom and Dad) that discipline is a form of love and kids need love in all it's forms. Kids that run wild really are miserable and while Aleks may be a handful sometimes right now (he's sweet and nice plenty of the time, he can just switch to wildman in an instant) but he will be a great kid and a fine young man. He's a free spirit. I don't want to smoosh that out of him. We just need it to be a bit more focused. :-)

It was really cold today and rained then turned to snow. We haven't seen the sun
since the day we got here. Should have brought a heavy


Wendy's run out for milk, and hopefully a beer. We could use one, or 10. Signing off from Latvia.

Days Five and Six

Sorry it's been a bit, life and children have a way of eating up your time.

Let's see. We had a nice long excursion. We hit a bookstore and toystore. Kids needed more to do. So we got some books to help learn English and math. Toys were some puzzles, forms for play-doh, something like and Erector set (cost a small fortune) and some little bobble head action figures, oh and colored pencils.

Walked all over. Toystore was 1.5 km, so touch over a mile. Seemed longer. We did pass a place for pizza. We stopped there for lunch on the way back. Kids seemed pretty accustomed to walking. Pizza was interesting. Pepperoni is salami. They did make a pretty good Hawaiian pizza. They had an interesting pizza with Salami and a garlic sauce. Good overall. I've got pictures of that.

I had forgotten our Latvian phone at the apartment and came home to find Bruno had called three times. I called him back and he wanted to meet in an hour to have our Latvian power of attorney notarized. This required leaving the kids alone. It was 15 minutes away and would take about 15 minutes so we would be gone less than an hour. We figured the older kids could handle it. They did, sort of.

We had gotten a harmonica at the toystore. Aleks and Dite fought over it. Aleks went into the bathroom, came out naked from the waist down and peed on his sister's bed. I guess we knew how he felt about that.

We got home moments after that happened. Nauris had placed Aleks in his room and when we got in there we could tell he knew he was in trouble. I guess I'm thankful that it wasn't worse. We had misgivings about leaving them alone, I suppose it worked out, we won't be doing that again. Bruno talked about using Victorija here as a sitter for the work we need to do tomorrow at the Ministry of State (or wherever we get the kid's new passports)

Dinner was leftover soup from the night before. It really was excellent. Potatoes, ham, onions, peas, carrots, garlic. The quality of the produce is very good, and very inexpensive. 25-50% less than Iowa typically. I look at a price and then realize that that's for a kilo. 2.25 pounds. Some things are stupidly cheap. Onions for .60E a kilo? Potatoes for 1E? (per kilo again) Hell, the good pork roast we got was 3.80E a kilo. 2 dollars a pound? It's not that cheap in Iowa.

Aleks misbehaved and wouldn't stop, so he got a time in, in his bed. Then at dinner he wouldn't stop trying to eat by puting his fork handle in his mouth. So off to bed again. He wanted to make it a game and a joke, right up until I told him his father was angry. That changed his demeanor immediately. He realized it wasn't a joke..  I asked him (thank you translator app) if he was ready to eat his dinner. He was and we ate without further incident.

I think my youngest boy suffers from a lack of individual attention. A couple years in an orhpanage and in a house with 7 kids, I think sometimes he got to do whatever he wanted, a bit too often. Well, even in our house of five, he will have a whole lot more hands on than he is used to. Surprise! He won't know what hit him.

I showed a touch of temper today, chewed on Jaenelle for being snippy. Jack for tattling and arguing. Nothing too shocking, just a raised voice and sharp tone. I need to be careful considering the Latvian trio's past, but it's probably a good thing for them to see that there is a limit to my patience and that when reached, there are consequences.

Had another outing to the Central Market. It ruwas raining a bit and cold. This place really is great. Pork roast, bacon (we have to slice it, so it can be nice and thick! JOY!) Chicken, Bussel Sprouts for 1.50E a kilo! Milk is expensive as is juice. About $2ish for just 2 liters.

Wendy made Orange Chicken stir fry. Sort of Chinese food. It was good but Aleks again wanted to make a fuss over dinner. He wanted to eat the rice with nothing else and nothing on it. Considering the nutrients are in the veggies and meat, that wasn't going to fly. We ate and he picked at it. Eventually, he ate the vegetables and rice. Strange he didn't want the chicken. Whatever, he ate and again had reinforced that good manners and eating what is placed in front of your was the rule.

Dite and Nauris have been willing to push it a bit during school I pushed them to do math they didn't know how to do yet. 4 digit multiplciation for Nauris and higher 2 by 2 multiplication for Dite. They flat out refused to do it. Even when I showed them they knew how to do the base skills for doing it. So it's good to see their personalities and that they are comfortable enough to show their own opinions and ideas. I know often that this can take months to appear with adopted children. To get it, any of it in a week? I'll take it. Even if they were a bit mad at me. So school didn't go as well as yesterday. Wendy did get a bit further with school with Aleks. He has been tough to engage. Neither of us were exposed to Pre-K methods in our teaching careers.

We are profoundly proud of Jack and Jaenelle. They really do soldier on when we need them to. They take the initiative to do their schoolwork and help out pretty much whenever we ask. Jack has had a moment or two, but nothing over the top. Jaenelle has been snippy a bit, but that could be hormones as much as anything.

We had some photos developed to use for the court meeting tomorrow. Pictures of the new house. It took an hour and Jaenelle had come with me. We talked about stuff. A good bit about how happy she was with the adoption. She really does like her siblings. Especially Nauris and Dite. Aleks is a handful but he's a good kid, and both she and I think he will grow up into a nice and fun person.

We did go to the theatre on Sunday with the kids' foster parents. Paukojam un Smaukojam. Basically a tale of two rabbits. Pauk and Smauk. Lilita said it was a story and songs from her childhood. Her sponsor paid for the tickets for all of us. She brought her 4 other children. She said they didn't fully understand that Nauris, Dite and Aleks were gone. I was a bit confused but she said it's better they don't really know. She said she was happy her children had found a family and that all children need parents, but for her other four, there was really no hope. That is sad. I've got pictures of us dressed up and you can see the other kids.

The play was excellent. Even if I couldn't understand it. The two leads, played by women (though I am sure one rabbit was supposed to be male) were really talented. Dancing like crazy (remember this is a kid's musical) and singing loudly. The male players could really sing, and there were times it was at least eight part harmony. There were 10 or 12 players in all. Kids loved it.

Took the kid's out for pasteries after the play on Sunday. Some places were closed on Sunday. Almost all stores in Riga close. Not grocery stores, but some restaurants and cafes. Found a place, Costa Coffee, more or less their Starbucks. They had some tasty pasteries and we got the kids hot c hocolate. It was really rich. The Latte Wendy ordered and Mocha I ordered came in huge mugs that were the size of large soup bowls. 40E for coffee and dessert. EEEK! Oh well, it's only money and the kids don't go to plays with us every  day.

It's really been a great time. I told the older kids the chairman of the orphan court was coming tomorrow. I told them she would talk with them. I told them they should tell the truth. Theoretically, if this went badly, that would be it. They would send the kids back. Might only make us stay a whole lot longer (weeks more) to have us bond more and work out the kinks. I don't think that will happen. I think it will go well. I did ask Lilita to ask the kids if they
still wanted to go to America with us or go home with them. It's sort of putting them on the spot, but they all said they wanted to stay with us. So that day I didn't cry with joy. I could turn it into laughter. I laughed/cried several times. It is crazy to think that we've got these kids for the rest of our lives. Sound crazy, but sounds good to me. Only thing that makes me sad is that they will move out all too soon. Oh well, I'll take what I can get for however as long as I can get it.

Time to put my crazy kids to bed. They are in their jammies with teeth brushed and are now running around like madmen. Time to help my wife. :-)