Snow!

This may become a rather mundane thing for us, but the first snowfall has been fun to watch, esp for Gio who seems to have no memory of the "snow-colypse" last year in DC.  I bundled him up in everything I had brought in our luggage, including a pair of ill-fitting gloves and out we went to hit the snow.  He was most facinated with the tractor that was clearing the streets and the "dirt snow" that he found along the edge of the sidewalk.  Yes, even after a fresh fall of snow our son somehow found the dirtiest pile he could...and attempted to eat it.  So even though I had him dressed to the standards of the Ukrainian women walking by, I still got some alarmed looks of disapproval anyway for Gio's snacking habits. I may never win this battle. 

Paolo returns from Maldova this evening so Gio and I are eagerly waiting for him to walk through the door.  And the best news of all?  Our container and our car landed in Odessa yesterday and are expected to arrive here by next weekend!  Gio's birthday presents are inside that container so we may just delay celebrating a week or so. (He officially hits the "terrible two" stage on Monday.) He will never know the difference, will he?

We started our Eric Carle popup advent calendar yesterday.  Thanks, Nonna & Nonno Zurn!

Look what I saw on the street today! A Bernese Mountain Dog puppy.  We hope to have one soon ourselves.

This is the grocery store near our home.  Can you decipher the Russian?  Hint: only two of the letters have different sounds than our own alphabet.

Yes, this is an entire aisle of vodka. 

My "little" eskimo about to indulge in some "dirt snow." This makes the pigeon bread seem almost sanitary.  What will he eat tomorrow?