He said yes!

The day began at 3am. No longer able to sleep. So what to do when you can't sleep- Skype - We called Kenny's mom and step dad and talked to them for a while. Let them know everything was okay and we made it safe and sound. After the call.........we figured we could go back to sleep. YEAH at least for a little while. Our driver and translator came to pick us up at 745am. We had a new driver (Anton) and Elana as our translator. We had Elana on our last trip (the last visit with the kids). The 3 1/2 hour ride to the Children's Home was uneventful. Anton is a very speedy driver. When we reached Spassk, we had to pick up the social worker and take her with us to the Children's Home. Again uneventful. When we got to the Children's Home, "I" was outside with his group and one of the caregivers saw us and brought him over by us. He kept his head down and fiddled with his fingers. They say he does that when he is nervous or just being shy. The caregiver told us thru our translator that he has been waiting for us. Then when we went inside we went directly into the directors office. We showed her all they toys we had brought and she suggested we give them to the kids ourselves. "I" came into the room. He was still being shy until we brought out the tractor we had brought for him. We think at that moment he realized it was okay to look up at us - but still no smile. About five minutes later, the rest of his group came in and we showed them all the toys we had brought. The girls all got dolls and we even had extras. By the way....Kenny handled given out the girl stuff while I was with the boys and the cars. Surprise Surprise! The kids also enjoyed the punching bags that Kenny had to blow up. After about 10 minutes the caregivers took the rest of the toys (legos, jump ropes, balls, bead kits) and the kids into another room. So we were alone with "I". "K" had not yet arrived back from school so we had about a half hour with "I" and it did not take that long for him to warm up to us. We played with the tractor and the other cars that were in the room. The way to that boys heart is with wheels of any kind. We got many smiles and even some laughs. We decided to try on some clothes that we had brought to make sure we got the right sizes or if we needed to go shopping. Success with "I". The shoes fit perfectly (size 11), the pants (4T) fit great! The shirt (5T) was a little big but wouldn't want it any smaller. "K" came into the room a little shy but Mama couldn't wait so I went over and gave her a big hug. She hugged me back! (YEAH!) We gave her a little time and also gave her a Barbie ring. We played for a little bit and then we tried on clothes. Again success! The shoes (size 11) fit great! The shirt (6 6x) fit awesome! The pants (7 slim) fit okay. The length was good but the waist was a little big - thank goodness for adjustable waistbands. Okay enough about the that! The day was great! We played with kids until lunch/naptime and then we left to get lunch ourselves. Wonderful cafe with wonderful Russian cuisine. YUM! We headed back to the Children's Home to wait for the kids to get up from their naps. Low and behold "I" was wide awake in his bed waiting for us to come back. There was still 1/2 hour left in their nap and the caregiver brought "I" in to see us because he was just to excited to sleep. So no nap for "I" today. That's okay - we had playing to do. So we took him outside and was kicking the beach ball around outside for a bit. Not long after "K" came out and joined us. That's when we brought out the bubbles. "K" liked the bubbles the last time we were here and "I" liked to pop them but would not blow them. Well today was different. He started blowing bubbles as soon as I put the wand to his mouth. I gave him the bottle and he went to town. Loved blowing the bubbles. "I" and his sister were having a blast. We were outside for about an hour or so and had attracted many other children so we decided to go inside. Elana told us we should start having the kids say yes or no instead of da or nyet. So we were trying really hard to get "K" to say yes when she wanted to play with the video recorder and instead on the other side of the room with me "I" yells "YES". Small victories are wonderful! Just a note...."K"'s hair has grown and is past her shoulders and no luffa on top of her head. She looks like a different girl. Her front teeth have come in and give her an even more beautiful smile which we hope to see many times. "I" laughed out loud many times and is still very ticklish. Kenny's goal before he leaves to hear "K" giggle like "I". More to come from our next visit. We will be leaving the hotel with The Currans to go to the notary and exchange money. Then off to see the kids again!