I haven't posted in awhile because there just isn't much to report. We are pretty settled into normal life here and valuing the time spent together (notice my word choice there; I can't say we are exactly "enjoying" all the family time, but it truly is a privilege to be able to raise the boys ourselves).

Uncle Martin left on Friday for his home visit, so we tried to make the most of our last days together. Wednesday we went to our favorite restaurant (the only sit-down restaurant we have tried so far, but it has a really expansive indoor pay area), which made for a really nice way to get a quiet visit together while the boys played. Our normally simple tram ride to meeting Wednesday night turned into a bit of a marathon event. Winter has been here for a few weeks now, so we were waiting at the tram stop in the cold and wind when we realized the trams weren't running to schedule and ours wouldn't be coming anytime soon. Luckily we were all together and Roman is familiar with the public transportation system. We decided to walk 3 blocks to the bus stop and take a bus to meeting instead. The sidewalks were glare ice so we each grabbed a kid and did our best to hurry to the bus. We got to the stop just before the bus was scheduled to leave, which meant we were the last ones to try and cram on to an already very full bus (the buses here have a few seats around the edges, and the rest is space for standing). It was a bit like that YouTube video of an Asian subway where they are shoving the people in and trying to shut the doors. Poor little Lev was in my arms and getting squished to bits; I kept yelling "Rebyonka!" but nobody seemed to care. We had a Russian lady traveling with us (first time going to a Wednesday meeting!) and she kindly managed to find a seat for me. We spent the next 40 minutes crammed on the sweaty bus, careening through rush hour traffic on icy roads. Of course, everyone was quiet except for Finn. "Sumping STINKS! Mom. Who-one STINKS? WHY-uh?" And on and on he went. I tried to get him to play a game with me to see who could go the longest without talking, but either he didn't get it or didn't care. Ah well, I tried, and although we got plenty of glares, nobody actually yelled at us, so whatever. The tram stop is conveniently located right outside Aleksei and Nadya's apartment, but the bus stop was not. Lev had fallen asleep on the bus so I got to carry the slippery 20-pound sack of potatoes another 4 blocks in the blowing snow. After all that, meeting was only delayed by about 30 minutes.

On Thursday evening we had everyone over to our place for Martin's final going away party. We scrounged up enough tables, chairs, plates and forks so that everyone could sit together and enjoy pizza and pop (Martin's idea). Finn was doing pretty well sitting at the table eating until he decided to get down off his "chair" (an upside down laundry basket) and throw his ball into the air. It came down and hit Martin's glass so that it sprayed all over him, drenching him in Coke! The look on his face! Utter surprise! Matt got mad, Finn got sad, Roman got towels, and 10 minutes later we were all able to laugh about it. We finished out the evening with a few songs and Matt and I sharing our stories.

Martin flew out early Friday morning, just before the weather turned frigid. It has been well below zero since Friday evening, but looks like it should get back up into the teens by tomorrow. Finn loves playing outside in the snow and cold, but Lev isn't a very big fan. Before it turned so cold I was taking Finn out to play while Lev napped all bundled up in the stroller. I'm not sure what our long-term strategy will be for staying sane this winter; Finn has SO much energy!

We didn't make the snowmen, but it seems to be a bit of an art around here! Both boys thought they were pretty great.