Stein Family

Dear All,

2009-07-30T22:09:00.000-07:00

I am sorry for being so sloppy about updating the blog. Seems like life is happening so fast—I don’t have a spare second to slow down and take notes. There is just no way to start blogging about everything that happened since my last entry; nevertheless, here are some highlights of the last six month.

Obviously, the biggest event occurred on May 7, when our third child, Demitri Garrett Stein, was born. He was due on May 23, but apparently, he was ready to make his appearance a couple weeks early. May 7 was my mother’s birthday, so this birth date has special significance for me. Of course, Keith and I had a rough time coming up with a name for Dima. In the end, we named him after my mom’s favorite uncle and Keith’s younger brother, Garrett.

Dima has been a fun addition to the family. His is well mannered, laid back, and really happy-go-lucky. I was a little worried about the transition from two to three children but it has been very smooth for us because the older two children have been very helpful.

It has been enjoyable watching Lena and Benjamin develop a relationship with their little brother. While Lena is great at helping with the baby, Benjamin is there to entertain him. I think Dima smiles the most when Benjamin sings to him.

TULIPS

2009-07-30T21:57:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Woodburn Tulip Festival has become an annual tradition. The first time I went, I was 8 months pregnant with Lena, the first trip we took with Jessie, she only had Ella. This year, we each had two children with us, not counting the one in my tummy. The flowers were beautiful. But I thought that the sight of watching the kids run through the flowers was even more breathtaking.

ROAD TRIP

2009-07-30T21:34:00.001-07:00

For a while, my friend Jessie and I have been talking about making a road trip to Utah. She’s from Park City and for us it’s been a while since we’ve been to Cedar City to visit Keith’s family and let the kids play with their cousins. Since our husbands are really not “road trip” kind of people, Jess and I decided to do it on our own. We’ve decided to take off after the tax season was over. We were a little worried about the proximity of my due date, but I figured if I didn’t go while 8 months pregnant, I’d have to wait until the baby was older. And who knows what would happen by then.

Jessie and I planned the trip and got our children excited about the upcoming adventure. Keith was having a panic attack about me travelling while pregnant but I assured him I was not going into labor in the middle of Idaho. My promise was not good enough, so he made me get permission from my OBGYN. I am lucky Dr. D. is so relaxed; he okayed the trip without hesitation.

Since neither of us have a minivan (and both of us had a couple of kids), Jess and I rented a van and took off at 4 am, hoping the kids would sleep at least until breakfast. Unfortunately, the kids were so excited they did not want to go back to bed.

We spent the first night at Jessie’s parents’ house, then drove to Cedar City the following day. All six of Keith’s siblings and his parents live there. Lena and Benjamin enjoyed spending time with their cousins and getting to know their aunts and uncles better. We had a great time, enjoying every day of our trip, even those spend in the van; kids thought it was party time, in the company of their friends, Ella and Jonas, movies, and various treats. Daddy was very happy to have us back and I didn’t even go into labor for another week. Who said I was cutting it close?

My sister-in-law Megan and I were due about 6 weeks apart. Now Demitri has a little cousin Isabella.

Riley became my kids favorite dog in no time. It's a good thing daddy has "allergies" or we would be looking for a puppy by now...

Poor Riley endured all sorts of love (torture) from my children

He didn't seem to mind

Benjamin Eric and his uncle Eric sported similar hairdo

Lena doing math and Benjamin watching Peter Pan - to each his own...

Uncle Matt let the kids drive in his truck. Lena now insists that she is a better driver than "those teenagers"

Easter 2009

2009-07-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

Even though Easter usually falls on the very end of tax season, a time when I have very little time and energy, I try to plan some fun activities for the kids. Because of my Primary Calling, this year the egg hunt I planned was on a larger scale than in the past. Also, a couple of weeks prior, the kids and I worked on an Easter Basket craft with their friend Ella.

Stein Annual Christmas Letter

2008-12-27T17:16:00.000-08:00

Hey Everybody,

It’s time for our 2008 Stein family year-in-review. The Mayan calendar says the apocalypse won’t happen until 2012, so for the time being, we’re safe from terminators, zombies, or whatever else may graciously end my obligation to write these family newsletters in 3-4 years.

Benj is 3 years old and now attends preschool. Like a budding engineer, he spends lots of time building things. He talks constantly and we’re finally starting to understand him. We’ve learned that frissmas wides = Christmas lights and fock-it mick = chocolate milk. (You get used to it). And when he’s utterly incomprehensible, Lena’s always available to interpret. He’s said some funny things this year. I’ve been writing them down. My favorite quote this year:

DADDY: Do you want a baby brother or a baby sister?
BENJ: I want a brother.
DADDY: What if Mommy has a girl?
BENJ: Then I’ll make a baby boy in my tummy.
DADDY: You’ll make one in your tummy?!
BENJ: Yeah, and two girls in my boobies! (Demonstrates).

So the kid is ambitious—and yes, he’s perhaps a bit too nurturing. But in most respects, he’s just like his old man: he’s kind of lazy, loves chocolate, spaces out for minutes at a time, and lets a female control his life. I have that same problem.

As for Lena, she’s now 5. She’s incredibly bright and has become quite the accomplished reader. The other day at the grocery store, she asked Ira how to spell Kool Aid. Ira spelled it C-O-O-L. Lena gleefully corrected her. We think she’s a little too smart for her own good. Just this week, she faked a serious illness to get out of class. The kid deserves an Oscar. Her teacher was ready to quarantine the whole school! Seriously, we shouldn’t have to deal with these antics until she’s at least an obnoxious teenager. She’s also said some funny things this year. My favorite quote came after a prayer:

LENA: Heavenly Father, please bless the whole world and all the planets and stars . . . except for Mars. Don’t bless Mars. Amen.
MOMMY: Good prayer, Lena. But why don’t you want Him to bless Mars?
LENA: Because we can’t breathe and we die there.

Wow. We didn’t have the heart to explain to her just how inhospitable most of the universe really is—she’d ask God to curse the whole universe! In almost all ways, Lena is just like Ira. She loves to organize things, make lists, and adopt rules (for others to follow). She hates chocolate, loves people, and has an uncanny ability of getting her own way. How precious!

As for Ira, she got herself knocked up. Again. I can’t complain about her freakish fertility because her body has started changing in all sorts of “husband-friendly” ways (she begged me not to say this). Her due date is May 23. For now, she’s keeping a busy schedule. When she’s not juggling work, motherhood, and her church calling as Primary President (a big responsibility), she relaxes by reading books or watching the tube with me. She went sort of crazy this year on that Twilight series. Since everybody we know has heard her go on and on (and on) about it, I’ll spare you another round of punishment. Just so you know, she keeps a family blog at: www.steinfamily-oregon.blogspot.com

As for me, I feel so blessed. Though I’ve lost some more hair and found a few pounds, family, work, and life in general have been better than a man like me deserves. No complaints.
Merry Christmas from Keith, Ira, Elena, and Benjamin

Celebration Part II: Welcome to NEVERLAND

2008-08-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

For Ella and Benjamin's birthday this year we decided to go with "NEVERLAND" theme, having them dress up as Peter Pan and Tinker Bell and inviting their friends to come dressed as pirates, Lost Boys, Indians, or Wendy. We ended up having all these characters at our party!

The trip to Neverland started out by Peter Pan and Tinker Bell sprinkling pixie dust on the guests as they arrived. We reviewed the story by going over some scenes from the movie, making sure everyone was aware of what the party was about. Below is a picture of us watching the movie...

Captain Hook (Keith) made special appearance and chased the kids around the house and back yard, making them walk the plank and having sword fights.
The kids got to play in the tent - LOST BOYS CAVE and decorate their swords with stickers.
We also had a Mermaid Lagoon (wading pool with some sprinklers) but unfortunately the weather was not really Lagoon friendly... We did get to "make shadows" by tracing each kid's outline on black paper.

Towards the end of the party we received a message in a bottle from Peter Pan, asking for help in finding his treasure before Hook got to it... Everyone enjoyed a treasure hunt, especially since they got to keep the found treasure (coin candies, treats, and a toy). Below I am giving out the treasure...

Keith decorated the cakes to make them look like the crocodile with the ticking clock. The kids loved those.

Even Jessie and I decided to join in on the fun by dressing up.

At the end of the night, after all the work we put into the party, we figured we deserved a turn at WII (the boys were playing during the cleanup!). Jessie beat me at tennis, just like she does on a real court!

Official Jam Tasters

2008-08-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

The kids and I have been very busy this summer getting ready for winter - picking berries, freezing them, and making jam. This last week I've decided to make some new jams - blackberry and triple berry (blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry). The kids volunteered (actually, more like begged), to taste every single batch. Lena (being so much like her mom!) told me it was wa-a-y-y too sweet, Benjamin (just like he daddy), doesn't think there is such thing as TOO sweet.

Birthday Boy

2008-08-23T15:57:00.000-07:00

Benjamin turned 3 last Sunday. Since him and his BFF have birthday only 5 days apart, they usually party together... This year, once again, the celebrations consisted of several phases. Phase one was a trip to Cold Stone Creamery to get their Birthday Creations (siblings and moms were invited). Earlier that day Benjamin got an awesome present from his cousin Katya (thanks, Manya and Dave!) - Buzz Lightyear Costume. So, Benjamin refused to take the costume off the first couple of days. In fact, when Keith checked on him that first night, Benjamin was asleep hugging his costume. We pretty sure he likes it...

Such a Silly Tooth Fairy!

2008-08-12T21:31:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we went out to Subway for dinner. When Lena bit into her sandwich she got really upset and told me that sandwich hurt her tooth. I completely dismissed her complaints (she does tend to get headaches anytime I ask her to clean her room). However, to my horror I realized that her front bottom tooth was hanging by a thread! I was pretty annoyed that sandwich caused my daughter's tooth to fall out and vowed not to come back. The call to Lena's dentist in the morning revealed the awful truth - it is time for my baby to loose her baby teeth... Emotionally, I was not prepared to deal with such trauma, so I went into denial...

Keith had to bring me up to speed on the whole tooth fairy business before he went to work that night. I told Lena that if she managed to pull the tooth out on her own, the tooth fairy would come. My diligent child had accomplished that task within minutes. If only I were that good at my task... I accidentally threw away her tooth into the garbage can while cleaning up after dinner.The extensive sweep of the territory came up negative... Subject in question was MIA... I improvised by telling Lena that I would put the tooth under the pillow after she fell asleep because fairy was not allowed to come otherwise... I remembered someone mentioning coins but my wallet only had pennies which I did not see as worthy of a first-baby-tooth-out award. Paper dollar had to do...

I went to work the following morning excited to hear from Lena about her visitor. However, she never called. Imagine my shock when I came home and she still hadn't mentioned anything. I started questioning my sanity, wondering if I somehow lost the dollar between the kitchen and the bedroom. I ran and looked under the pillow... the dollar was still there... Apparently, I was more excited about the whole concept than Lena... She forgot to even check her pillow in the morning...

Tillamook - the home of Cheese Factory

2008-08-12T20:53:00.001-07:00

So, every summer I get to audit some municipalities in Tillamook. This year my audit was scheduled for five days. Keith took some time off and drove up to see me with our babies. While I worked, they went for a swim, toured the Cheese Factory, checked out local library and Air Museum - very fun and active day. I met them for lunch at the Cheese Factory (but did not get to join them for the ice cream afterwards...)

Father's Day

2008-07-18T22:36:00.000-07:00

I never posted any pictures from our Father's Day Celebration. The kids and I got Keith a new BBQ to put on our new patio. Kind of a selfish present, I guess! In case you can't tell, the cookie says We Love You (Lena and I baked it together).

Trip to the Coast

2008-07-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we took a trip to the coast. We stayed at a wonderful hotel in Newport (thanks for those scripts, Debbie!) Even though it was a typical Oregon coast weather, we had a nice family weekend. We swam at a pool, went to Mo's for their famous chowder, and even checked out Undersea Gardens, Ripley's Believe it or Not, and Wax Works Museum.

Doesn't he look good even though made out of wax?

About time I put my face on this blog...

My beautiful family

5th Birthday

2008-07-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

As I have mentioned, Lena was promised a pool party for her birthday which was put temporarily on hold due to weather situation. Well, our patience had paid off and we had a wonderful Princess (of course!) party at the local water park. Check out the birthday girl with her friends.

Thanks for the beautiful cake, Jessie!

Oldest friend - Jackson and Lena have been friends since before they were one.

Wild party crowd

Benj and Ella living it up

Dancing Queen (can't you tell I just watched "Mamma Mia"?)

2008-07-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

Lena has been taking dance classes through parks & recs department for the last couple of years and has really been enjoying them. Well, this summer we decided to give ballet a shot. We found a new ballet school that has just opened. Even though we've only had four classes, Lena absolutely loves the instructor. Benjamin likes playing in the play area and watching the dancers. "Silly girls!" he says. Well, check out how cute she looks (in a black leotard).

Another Outing

2008-07-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

Today we were scheduled to pick up our Portraits at JC Penney studio in Salem. Instead of running an errand, Jess and I decided to make it into another summer adventure. We took two cars (yes, we do know the gas prices, what can we do? We have four children and NO minivans!) and went to A.C. Gilbert's Discovery Village (check out link below)
http://acgilbert.org/index.html

Basically, the village consists of three historic homes that were converted into a childrens' museums, with exhibits varying from bubble making room, shadow room, dinosaur caves to pretend grocery store, theater stage with dress up clothes, anatomy lab, toy workshop. I don't know about the children, but Jessie and I enjoyed ourselves. In the court yard there was an enormous structure with long bridges, climbing nets, tunnels and slides. It took museum worker's escort to get us out of that place...

Yes, these are smoothies... yes, again...

Play Production

Little Children, Big Chair

Benj and his Bubble

Lena and Benj inside a tree

Summer Madness

2008-07-17T19:38:00.000-07:00

I LOVE SUMMER! What's not to love? Juicy watermelons, fresh berries, long days, bright sun (an endangered specie in Oregon). It is close to impossible to be in a bad mood during the summer (I manage, of course). So, my friend Jessie and I have been trying to see exactly how many activities we can fit into these long days with our four children. Our weekly agenda includes a couple of episodes of berry picking (we have just finished strawberries and have recently moved on to raspberries and blueberries) a trip to the wading pool. Two weeks ago we took the kids there to get some professional pictures taken. All of you with little children out there know exactly how much work it is to get at least one decent picture out of a long session with your child. Well, since we like the challenge, we decided to go for two photo shoots at two different studios at the Salem Center. Needless to say, we got quite a workout pushing our double strollers up and down the mall, running between the studios, waiting in line, making silly faces at the children trying to make them smile, running back to the first location to pick up the pictures, then returning to the second one... Well that experience is not for those with health concerns, attempt at your own risk!

(Jessie, Jonas, Ella, Benjamin, and Elena taking a break between photo shoots)

Well, children had a time of their lives and got rewarded for their stellar behavior during the shoots with some smoothies and a trip to the neighborhood park.

Jonas is quite a smoothie boy

Lena & Benjamin at the park in Salem

Blowing bubbles with brother

Daddy's little helper

Happy Birthday!

2008-06-04T20:05:00.000-07:00

I can't beleive we have a FIVE year old! Can we possible be that old? Well, on June 3rd, our Munch turned 5. She wanted to celebrate by going to the water park. However, Oregon weather was not cooperating, it was raining (what a shock!) and the decision was made to postpone the official party until later in June. Meanwhile, we celebrating by having milkshakes with the Meyers, followed the next day by our biweekly pizza party. Lena received a Princess Bike from mom and dad and Princess helmet from brother Benjamin... She also got a beautiful dress from aunt Manya and uncle Dave. Deda gave her an awesome scooter that she is learning to ride...

Home Sweet Home

2008-06-03T20:35:00.000-07:00

Why hasn't anyone mentioned before we became homeowners, that home projects simply do not end?!? Well, we have lived in our home for six years now and during that period have managed to repaint (and in some instances to wallpaper) all rooms, tile the kitchen and bathrooms, and put in PERGO floors in the living room and hallways... So, since we just can't be bored, this summer we decided to start another never ending project - landscaping the yard.

The original plan seemed simple enough - we were going to take out old lawn, build a retaining wall and reseed the new lawn... Well, slowly it became a lot more involved - we decided to expand the patio in the back yard, and put in a brick border around our lawn. After talking to our friend and "sprinkler" advisor Jared, decision was made to put in the sprinkler system.

Luckily, our friends and neighbors Jessie and Jared were also very excited about beautifying their yard, so at least we are able to split some of the equipment cost and learn from each other's mistakes (and there is plenty of both!)

Anyway, up to date, we have:

1. Riped up our old lawn (thanks to sod ripper and daddy's muscles)

2. Build a retaining wall in the front yard (our backs are still hurting from carrying the bricks)

3. Expanded a patio in the back yard (thank you Malisa and DeeAnna for all your help)

4.Mostly put in a sprinkler system (thank you Jared and Bob for all your help and ideas)

It has been a very fun project for the entire family with everyone contributing a lot based on their size and abilities...

We ARE hoping to finish our project someday but we'll keep you updated!

END OF YEAR PARTY

2008-06-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

Well, it's hard to believe that Lena is five! It has been two years as she started attending preschool. She absolutely loves it and has a hard time staying out of trouble. The teacher gets really upset with her, especially because she can't reprimand her for not listening - Lena has time to do both, pay attention and answer all questions correctly while creating disturbance in the classroom. What can I say - our child is a multitasker like her mom! We are very proud...

So, at the end of the school year there is usually a graduation ceremony, but this year, based on some research that shows that those type of ceremonies hurt child's Psyche, the school decided to have a party instead... Apparently, ice cream sundays in 10 am, are a lot better for children! Needless to say - Lena and Benjamin had a blast...

Say "Ahhhh"

2008-06-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

So, I decided it was time to introduce my children to one of my most time consuming and expensive "hobbies" - trips to the dentist. We started by playing "dentist" at home, the game that mainly consisted of me pocking their teeth with a toothpick and asking if that hurts... I figured that if Lena and Benj have any of my genes, chances are they will spend a lot of time in the dentist chair so I wanted to make sure they were prepared for that dramatic event in their young lives...

Well, the anticipated day finally arrived and we went to the new children's dental office in the North part of town. Everything started out ok - with a huge play structure in the waiting room and everything... However, when it came time to take Xrays (the least traumatic of all dental procedures), Benjamin refused to follow his sister into the chair. No amount of begging and promises of treats would help. So, after ten minutes of trying, the dental assistant gave up on him and suggested we move on to "exam" room. Lena was amazing, she opened up wide and let dentist examine her teeth and even clean them. Benjamin, however, was very suspicious of the whole process and would only let the dentist examine him from several feet away... Big sister came to the rescue by sharing the chair with him just so we can let the doctor pick into Benj's mouth...

Fun in the Sun

2008-05-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

Sunny San Diego

2008-05-10T16:25:00.000-07:00

After spending two days in Disneyland and hanging out with Deda, we headed to San Diego, to visit Manya, Dave & Katya. San Diego Zoo and CA beach were on the agenda. After the excitement of Disneyland, we were looking forward to spending a relaxing afternoon in the sun. However, two days before our arrival, there was a shark attack just a couple of miles from where we were... So much for laid back beach trip...

Since we do not see sun in Oregon very often, we prepared by brining hats and sunblock. However, since we don't use the sunblock very often (since we only get about 10 days of sun in Oregon!), it turned out it was expired, so the entire family got some kind of allergic reaction to the creme... Expired or not, it still did a great job of preventing sunburns, even though we all managed to get random sunburn spots (user application error!)

More Disneyland Fun

2008-05-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

Knowing my obsessive personality, it probably doesn't come as a shock that I had a strict agenda for our Disneyland visit. Using a software recommended by a fried "Max Ride for Disneyland", I had developed a schedule for our two day visit, trying to maximing our "riding time" as opposed to "waiting time". So, according to our plan, we were supposed to visit 12 rides the first day of our visit. Those of you who have been to visit Mickey recently, know, that can be pretty challenging, especially if travelling with young children. Well, proud to say that we went on 14 rides and some of them more than once!

Adventures in DISNEYLAND

2008-05-07T12:32:00.000-07:00

So, we did it! Our family survived this tax season and we decided to reward ourselves with a trip to Disneyland and San Diego! In order to avoid all the "when are we going?" questions, Lena and mom created a long paper chain, and Lena was faithfully taking off a link a day, until the very day of departure (she did try to speed the time up by taking two a day at first!).

Mom got the kids special luggage sets, hoping that would encourage them to help with the carrying part... (no such luck)! After they were done posing for the pictures, daddy and I got stuck with two "too heavy" backpacks...

Travelling

The kids did really well on the airplane (afterall, two hour flight is NOTHING compare to our Russia trip last year - 30 hours of travel one way). However, Lena was a little suspicious of the whole evacuation process - this is her studying the brochure.

Our double stroller was an absolute life saver... Not only we loaded that thing up with all the supplies that come with children (snacks, change of clothes, entertainment, etc), Benjamin was able to take naps in it as well.

At the Park

Everyone who knows my kids, knows how much Benjamin loves Peter Pan and Captain Hook (read: obsessed with them), so several weeks prior to the trip, daddy got him a Peter Pan costume. Well, the first thing Benjamin demanded we pack, was that costume (complete with a sword!). And that's what he wanted to wear in Disneyland! Luckly, I was informed that there are a lot of "weird" people in Disneyland, so he wouldn't stand out that much... Anyway, the first ride we went on was "The Flight of Peter Pan"...

So, here are my Peter Pan and Fairy, enjoying their very first ride...

More CA fun to come....

Easter

2008-03-22T15:14:00.000-07:00

This year we decided to participate in an Easter Egg Hunt organized by local merchants. The event sounded promising, with hundreds of eggs, presence of Easter Bunny, grand prizes, etc. So, we got the kids ready and excited to "score" some eggs... Well, being the people that we are, we showed up 5 minutes late and... the entire hunt was over! Apparently, so many children showed up that the whole thing took just under five minutes. Needless to say, the kids were pretty dissapointed and on the verge of tears (so was mom). Luckly, our friend Jessie came to our rescue and saved the day by organizing an impromptu Easater Egg Hunt in her back yard. Thanks, Jess!

PJ Time

2008-03-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Our kids waking up after a long night... in our bed...
We need a bigger bed! During the last week, there were at least a couple of times that our kids ended up in our bed by the end of the night, taking up at least 2/3 of our queen size bed, forcing us to migrate to the couch...

Tennis Pro

2008-03-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

Being half Russian, we figured Lena has to be natural at gymnastics and tennis... She was not too impressed with gymnastics when mom took her. She told me it wasn't like dancing at all plus the outfits were not pretty... So, this spring we decided to sign her up for tennis. Daddy took her to Corvallis (about 25 minutes away) every Saturday for 8 weeks. She "graduated" yesterday and was very proud of her certificate that had description of her newly acquired tennis skills on the back of it.

Dress Up at the Steins

2008-03-16T17:07:00.000-07:00

I am not sure how long does this phase lasts but it seems like it is here to stay. Since she turned two, Lena has been all about dressing up as a princess. It is her favorite activity when she gets home from school. So, of course, her little brother had to join in on the fun. Poor Benjamin has been every kind of princess there is. His favorite seems to be a Cinderella.