Look out Gwen Stefani

Yesterday we were at a party to celebrate my Mom's 60th- along with a frightening amount of character traits, she and Vica share a birthday. Since we had a big to-do for Vica's, Mom waited awhile to have her b'day bash.



The girls had a great time with the Lymycz/Pacosa branch of their fan club, which while not as large as the Sicilian branch is just as zealous in their adoration...



Well, seems that isn't quite enough for my girls and they felt the need to branch out last night. The party was held in a lovely restaurant. Unfortunately the room we were in had faulty air conditioning and twenty five women who are no longer producing estrogen just don't keep well in an under-air conditioned room. Fearing for their safety, the management relocated us to another semi-private room just off the bar/lounge area. This was also very nice- and very cool I might add. We also had the benefit of enjoying the live entertainment- a very talented lady was singing with pre-recorded music. (kinda like high-class karaoke).



While I was visiting with other guests, Vica worked her charm on the singer and actually conned her into letting her get up and sing. This supports Matt's theory that Vica's English is much, much better than she's letting on. She speaks one version for us and we catch her using another with "outside" people. Obviously it was good enough to get her point across and let's face it, she's tough to resist. Vica absolutely ADORES Gwen Stefani and made me go out and buy her latest CD- which she listens to at full blast every opportunity that I let her. Her very favorite song is the one that gets lots of radio time- Sweet Escape. Now for all of you that are not big GS fans, the chorus of this song is basically Whoooo-hooo, Wheeee-hooo, Whooo-hooo, Wheee-hooo. Vica REALLY likes to sing this refrain, at the top of her lungs, naturally. The rest of the song she just kind of makes up her own words, occasionally getting enough of them right that if you don't listen too hard makes her sound like she knows the entire song. So, she's up there decked out in a feather boa that looks like one of Bob Mackie's Cher cast-offs singing her heart out. My Aunt Anna is making like the paparazzi with all of the pictures she's taking and word circulates among the other patrons that this little girl and her sister were just adopted, have just begun learning English, etc. So all of this combined with Natasha and Angelina dancing and singing back up for Vica gets the Ukie version of Diana Ross and the Supremes practically a standing ovation.

My girl eats this up like it's candy and in five minutes I go from Vica wanting to be a doctor when she grows up to wanting to be a Vegas headliner, Oy.........

Stay tuned blog junkies to see what will win out- Med school or Sin City.....

Info for adoptive parents...

Just a quick note to fellow adoptive parents with kids from Ukraine.

If you or someone you know is thinking about conducting a birth family search, I have someone excellent to recommend to you. He is extremely professional, gets the job done quickly, and is VERY affordable.

Please e-mail me privately at lisasicilian@yahoo.com if you'd like further information.

I may be on to something.....

We had a pretty funny weekend around here. On Saturday, Vica was sent to her room because she whacked Daddy in the head with her new Ariel necklace that she just HAD to keep swinging around despite being asked, then told to stop numerous times. After the wound was inflicted, said necklace was promptly confiscated by Daddy..... sending Vica into a heap of wailing, crying, boogie spewing mess.

I took her upstairs to her room and explained why the toy was taken away and that once she calmed down she could come back out. Matt and I were in our bedroom watching TV and Natasha went into their bedroom to taunt her older sister- it's so rare that it's someone other than her getting into trouble. She felt compelled to notify her older sister that she had "BAD MANNERS" which got a giggle from me and Matt. A few minutes later I got up and caught Miss Emily Post Jr. MOONING her older sister....

Yep, there she was with that tiny heiny of hers exposed wiggling it at Vica.

This, naturally had Matt reduced to complete fits of laughter- actually I thought it was pretty funny too, but temporarily being the more mature parent felt that I should point out to Natasha that exposing one's backside is also considered VERY BAD MANNERS!!!

On Sunday Matt had both girls outside while he did some yard work. After about a half hour I could hear Vica whining to go back inside "With Mama" Matt wouldn't let her, so after another half hour I relented and called her inside. Naturally, where one goes, the other follows. So, I asked her if she wanted to help me cook dinner. We were just having tacos, so I let her stand on a stool and help brown the ground beef, add the seasonings etc... When it was done I then asked her if she wanted to vacuum- well, you should have SEEN her eyes light up. This girl is little Suzie Home maker- you would think I offered her the BEST toy on Earth. So, I got her set up with that and she just went to town- this brings Natasha to also wanting to help. I handed her the swiffer with a wet pad and she mopped my kitchen floor with it.

Mommy proceeded to pour herself a glass of wine and went outside on the deck. Matt asked me if I was drinking because they were driving me nuts, I told him "Oh no, Vica just cooked dinner and now they're both cleaning the house, let's go back and get 5 more just like them!"

I know it won't last forever, but you can bet the last dollar you've got that I'm going to enjoy EVERY second of it while it lasts!!!!!

Pictures- Finally!

Since most of you know how technologically challenged I am- I think it's pretty good that I finally figured out how to post pictures to the blog.

This is the picture I had taken of the girls as Mother's Day gifts for Grandma!

She was VERY happy!!!!

Blog Junkies Rejoice!!!!

I have been taking ALOT of flak lately for not keeping up with this blog. It's not that anything hasn't been happening- it just doesn't seem "blog worthy".

But for those of you out there who just need your fix, I'll try to do the best I can.

First and foremost, is Mother's Day. I finally got to celebrate "for real" and it was great. Matt and the girls cleaned the house from top to bottom for me, then went shopping at the mall on Saturday night. I got some very nice gifts, cards and dinner on Sunday. My parents, in-laws, brother and sister in law were all there and the girls had a great time playing with their cousin, Angelina. The girls chose three new charms for my bracelet. A heart that says Mom , Tinkerbelle, and Belle- how cute!!

Vica and Natasha continue to grow in leaps and bounds. They have both gotten taller and are just as cute as can be (if I say so myself) English is progressing nicely, although we're still speaking in the third person. Matt and I are increasing our efforts to teach them me, you, I, we, etc.

Natasha visited her new preschool over the weekend and she loved it. She's back to telling anyone who will listen "Natasha, school- play with toys!!" The preschool is really nice and it doesn't hurt that my neighbor Debbie, who has two great kids of her own will be teaching them.

Vica spent Saturday morning helping Matt shovel mulch. He had some delivered to redo the flower beds and she was right in the middle of it. By the time I got home, she was covered from head to toe in DIRT! I came to find out later that not only did she "convince" Matt to bury her in the mulch pile, but she also "convinced" our neighbor Charlie to let her jump into the giant pile of topsoil he had delivered the same morning!!

I came home to find her playing with the little girl next door- who was dressed in pristine white capri pants and sneakers- and there's my kid in her dirt caked sweat pants, t-shirt and matted down hair- yikes! Thankfully she cleans up really well and loves to be dressed up.

Which brings me to Vica's birthday! She turned 7 on April 28th and we had a really nice party for friends and family at a local restaurant. Vica naturally had a gorgeous pink dress on that Grandma got her and then managed to get every single outfit Gap Kids has to offer a girl in her size- it's insane. She's got more clothes than I do and probably as many pairs of shoes. Funny now, but what is this going to be like in ten more years!!

As part of her birthday present, Vica got her ears pierced. We took her to the mall and she hopped right into the chair. After I filled out the paperwork (almost as much as I had to fill out to adopt her) she looked at me and asked me if it would hurt. I didn't lie and told her it would pinch a little- kind of like when she got a shot at the doctor. So, the lady marks her ears, loads up her little gun, points and shoots- well, Vica's entire body just trembled, you could just see her physical reaction to this. Vica does not shed a single tear, she doesn't even blink- Mama on the other hand feels her entire stomach contents threaten to evacuate. After deciding that this would not be the best thing for me to do smack dab in the middle of Rockaway Townsquare Mall, I regain my composure just in time to see the second earring go in. This time Vica doesn't flinch- I asked her if it hurt and she just looked at me and said "No, Mama" proving once again that Mama is a big sissy.........

That's about all I can think of right now- I promise to be more diligent in updating this blog!

Bye for now!