Russians do celebrate Valentine’s Day but on a lesser scale. They wish each other “Happy Valentine’s Day” and “Congratulations” and wish each other good luck in finding a loved one.
Traditional gifts are chocolate but girls don’t have to give the gifts, boys do. Sounds right, eh?
Want help with the Cyrilic text for a card?  I ftranslated this online for you.
Счастливое Valentine’ день s. с влюбленностью и поцелуями

When adopting children from international countries it can be difficult to determine if they are growing adequately, especially since American charts are different from Asian growth charts, Russian charts, South American charts, etc.
It is important to take into consideration your child’s medical circumstances, health history, early care, current nutrition, genetic heritage (if available), and emotional trauma. Sometimes, however, children may no make significant progress and parents will need to look at parasites and allergies, both of which AJ has.
Use these Vietnamese and Asian growth charts to see the percentages for your child. There are also China charts.

Faberge eggs used to only come out at Easter time but that has changed now that they are such a collector’s item. My mother loves them and one of the gift’s we picked up for her in St. Petersburg was a beautiful glass egg. It was not the traditional Faberge egg that she usually collects but it was a beautiful solid red glass.
Now, for a great Christmas gift for the grandparents have your children make them. The most detailed site that I have come across is LearnPysanky.com and a more simple version is The Ukranian Easter Egg. Both have great …read more

July 12, 2005
Our judge has requested additional paperwork: a home study update on two specific lines on our faults. He wants them clarified and explained in detail to make sure he knows that we are psychologically sound. I do think that this is a step in the right direction with all that is going on in Russia…extra screening by the judges.
But…kind of stinks that it has to start with us.

July 6, 2005 from Yahoo Groups
“Good news is that court is on the 22nd!!!!! Bad news is that we have the tough Judge!”
All smiles today!
Marcie

Race always matters, right?
African, Caucasian, Chinese, Guatemalan, Vietnamese, Korean, Ethiopian, Nepalese, Russian, Ukrainian, Haitian, Kazak, and more…
Race always matters, right?

As I stated last week, Russians have three names, similar to Americans; they have a given name, a patronymic, and a family name, or surname.

I have heard of these little cuties and was tempted to get AJ one that speaks Russian but I can’t really find any boy versions (only one Spanish?)
Now, I know all the transracial adoption experts say that these kinds of dolls are not authentic (obviously they don’t look Spanish or Guatemalan or even Asian) but sometimes in our sheltered lives we have to do the best we can with what we have. And if this is the only way on an every day basis that we can give a toddler access to hearing some Spanish or Chinese language than I …read more

Braised Red Cabbage and Apples
2 small red cabbages, quartered
1 onion, peeled and sliced thin
6 McIntosh apples, peeled, cored, and sliced thin
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 teaspoons salt
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 cups chicken stockPlace cabbage, onions, and apples into a baking pan. In a saucepan, combine sugar, salt, pepper, red wine vinegar and chicken stock. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Pour the liquid over the cabbage mixture. Cover and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour, until cabbage is soft.

Chocolate Babka Recipe
Sponge:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3 ounces cake yeast
2 cups warm milk