Sophia and Anton

Two of my favorite kiddos. Sophia and Anton. They live in a foster care setting with Jamie’s in-laws. So we get to see them on Sundays, if not more often.
Last Sunday they arrived late to church because they had just returned from a Christian summer camp at the Black Sea. (Tough [...]

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The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Suzanne has encouraged me to stick to the more positive posts, particularly those that involve children’s literature. What other children’s books do I have with me here? The Tale of Peter Rabbit was a huge favorite in the Peipon household, as it was in the Matthews household as I was growing up.
I remember [...]

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C. F. Payne

Some of you may recognize the name C. F. Payne. An artist extraordinaire.
I know him as Chris. Chris Payne. The little brother of Betsy, my classmate. We grew up across the street from each other.
Chris now has a website showing his fabulous work. Take a look-see. And maybe order [...]

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North Carolina terrorists

Home-grown terrorists plotting to attack overseas?! North Carolinians?! Doesn’t sound like southern hospitality to me…
I don’t know why this article caught me by surprise…

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Winnie-the-Pooh

Love this book. And to quote the introduction, in part:

“If you happen to have read another book about Christopher Robin, you may remember that he once had a swan (or the swan had Christopher Robin, I don’t know which) and that he used to call this swan Pooh. That was a long time [...]

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Christmas in July

Christmas in July. When we lived in the States that would typically mean that there was a summer sale taking place. Or there was an excuse for a gathering of some sort.
But now that we live in Ukraine, Christmas in July has a whole new meaning. Actually shopping for a December Christmas [...]

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The Goops

While rearranging books, I came across a favorite from days gone by. Goops and how to be them, a manual of manners for polite infants by Gelett Burgess. The book was originally published in 1900. Growing up we learned some of these poems by memory, and our children are also quite familiar [...]

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Closing in on Gongadze’s murderer

Less than a year before we moved to Ukraine, the news story broke about the murder of journalist Georgiy Gongadze. Government officials at the highest level, including then-President Kuchma, have been accused of being involved in this horrendous crime. The headless body was discovered in a wooded area outside of the city, but [...]

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Lunch with the girls

I must admit that I don’t go out to eat very often. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with restaurants…but I can’t often afford to eat where I might really enjoy the food and the atmosphere.
But we do have a great cafeteria-style restaurant within a short walking distance from our flat. [...]

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Click on the green phone

I don’t have any idea how my computer works.
Nor a cell phone…good grief! No cords and yet I can talk with someone across the ocean. (I remember thinking it was quite a big deal when I could take the cordless phone in the yard when watching the kiddos! But no [...]

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