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Random

We kind of have not done too much lately so here is another addition of random facts from our life :)

  • In January the temperatures dipped down to teens in Fahrenheit (negative let’s say 5C) – while not absolutely freezing, still rather chilly.  Grandma left us in the second week of January just as the boys went back to school, then Chris left the following week so it was a bit odd to have such a quiet house.  He has not traveled much but the schedule is definitely filling up.  Slowly but surely the spring is coming.  It's been getting up to mid-50F for about 2 weeks now.
  • Anton saw his bowel doctor who officially said that we don’t have to come back unless more issues come up which is absolutely thrilling.  I am not sure how important it is "to be released" from a specialist but I feel better knowing we followed through and he is now official better.
  • The older boys started their second semester at school which means the work is really picking up and they have more tests but they are doing a good job studying.  They are starting to understand that grades are somewhat important and putting in the extra work pays off.
  • Speaking of which, Andrei got his grades for the first part of the year and they are about what we expected with the exception of the religion class which I was under the impression he was not being graded but he actually got a grade.  After having some conversation with different teachers and Andrei, we decided that he will continue taking one religion class (Catholic) a week and the teacher has guaranteed that he will be getting "average" for his grade.  He is still not being graded in German and Social Studies which is just fine with us.
  • We also tried audio books for the boys for the first time and they are loving it.  Andrei listened to 3 Harry Potter books and Ilya enjoyed Peter Pan. Andrei is currently listening to Story of the World, Volume 2 after he finished Volume 1 and enjoyed it.  With Ilya, however, we decided to stop with audiobooks in favor of actual reading.  Ilya gets to choose the language (English, Russian or German) and he is seemingly favoring German at this point. 
  • Chris got a juicer and started making his own juices - combinations like spinach, carrots and apples, or some other things seem appealing to him. The rest of us are supporting him in his quest for a healthier lifestyle but are not really enjoying the product as much.




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