Imagines from the week so far...

I have been in a slump in terms of remembering to take my camera around with me, so posts have been lacking.  Apologies.  All is well here. Paolo is traveling a lot (on a 10 day jaunt now to Maldova and then to Italy, so no one should feel too sorry for him). Enzo is busy with his gang; every morning it looks like two grizzly bears fighting as he and Yoof, a Malamute, engage in wild play.  "Cat," the name Gio insisted on giving our kitten, is thriving.  He eats more food each day than Enzo which is quite funny considering that Enzo  has about 120 pounds on him.  I cheated a bit and gave him a real name, "Tigre" as I had to think of something when I took him for his shots yesterday.
As for Gio, well, he continues to speak in "ALL CAPS," as my friend Merilee describes it.  So true. There is nothing quiet about this kid.  He loves school, his teachers, his new and old buddies.  He has a  gang of boys I watched him racing about with today. As one of the older 3-year-olds, I am afraid he might be leading these younger boys astray. I can imagine I will be getting a few phone calls this year.  He is currently fascinated with Spiderman, feather dusters and the hot chocolate we frequently walk down to the Lviv Chocolate Factory to get on cold afternoons. '

Here are some images from the last week or so...

As much as I dread waking Gio up for school each morning,
look what happens now that I bring Cat/Tigre along!

Gio went to school on this morning in these pajamas.
I cannot win all of the battles in the morning.
At least his teeth were brushed.

Our park at about 6pm.  The long darkness of the Ukranian winter is coming. 

Once in a while we indulge in a visit to a nearby toy store. 

These large back SUVs make driving around here a nightmare at times. Today this one was mad that I did not let him cut in line (he had stormed up driving on the wrong side of the road and then tried to bully his way into the line I had been waiting in for 30 minutes.  I did not let him.  He proceeded to stalk me for the next 20 minutes honking, flashing his lights and yelling obsenities out his window.  I remained calm, tried to ignore him and luckily lost him in a traffic jam.  These incidents are very common here and very scary.  Those of you in the US should be grateful you have 911 to call.  Nothing for me to do here but hope the idiot gets caught behind a bus, which is what happened today.  I did write down his license and took this picture, just in case anything worse had happened, though I am sure I would have found not a single sympathetic police officer.  I was grateful Gio was not in the car with me today. 

And to end on a much more pleasant note, here is part of the preschool gang (William, Gio & Grace) after they ran a 1K race at a charity event last Saturday.  Such proud finishers!

I hope the rest of your week is filled with autumn leaves, smiles and no road rage incidents.

xo.  Clara