Texification

OK, that's probably not a real word...  Not only are we in the early stages of Kayleigh and Michael becoming a normal everyday part of our family, but adding that flair that you find only in Texas.  Our family loves living in Texas, it has its own culture to it that we find to be the ideal fit for our family.  BBQ, the gulf coast beach, shooting and hunting, sunscreen, driving 3 hours to get ANYWHERE!  So, not only are we building a family life with our new kids in general, we are adding in those things that are Texas special as well to the experience!

Michael has been a busy boy.  Last week Dylan and I took him to the gun range for the first time.  In Ukraine we were told it's very difficult for a regular citizen to be able to get a firearm.  We've been into shooting a couple years now as Dylan has a huge interest in shooting and hunting.  We started him his first time on the small stuff (.22 pistol and rifle and the 9mm), and he took to it like a fish takes to water.  Handled it all responsibly and safely and had a great time, not a bad shot at all.  Saturday we went with the Kids Outdoor Zone group for some skeet shooting.  He got off to a good start and hit a couple before tiring out in the Texas heat.  Dylan of course shot great that day as we've done quite of bit of skeet shooting and dove hunting (yum...).  More fun to come as Michael will have his first karate belt test tomorrow, testing for his yellow belt.

Yesterday we did a "make up" birthday party for Dylan and Michael and one of their friends, since Michael's birthday was just before we adopted and Dylan's birthday was while we were in Ukraine.  It was a fun time for all!  Kayleigh is keeping busy as well hanging out with the girls and getting into dance, she has progressed very well with it!  Both kids are big fans of BBQ (that is a requirement here in Texas...).

Both kids went to the dentist earlier this week for a checkup and evaluation and the news was not unexpected that there is a fair amount of work needed for both.  We have an awesome dentist so they'll be in good hands, but it probably won't be a ton of fun....  On the plus side though, both kids have put on weight since coming home in May and are looking very healthy!  Both kids are continuing to progress very well with English and we seldom bounce back to Ukranian anymore except to keep ours in practice and have our secret language around other people :)