A Day Out With My Favorite Girl

My daughter and I took matters into our own hands and declared Tuesday, March 6th, 2012, a girl's day out. We try to do something special for Women's Day and this was just what we needed! We had been hitting the books hard in school and were both ready for a day off! So, after making out a to-do list of what the boys needed to accomplish for the day in school, my wonderful husband drove us into town so that we didn't have to take a bus! A normal thirty minute car ride turns into an hour and a half trip on the bus. 

Car = more fun time for us!

First stop, second hand stores to find some much needed "new" clothes for Beka. We had a good time and found three new shirts this time around. After some second hand shopping, we stopped into a new store we had never been in before to check for any new things newly available to our city. I love to do this! When we first arrived here in Krasnoyarsk I would often go for a walk in the afternoon, with Beka in tow, to pick up a few things from the store and to see what new things I could find that I hadn't seen before. I loved these little adventures! I even would look up new Russian words in the dictionary and go out to try to use them as I shopped and talked with people. There was one particular store in which EVERYTHING sold was behind glass. In order to buy something you stood in line and when it was your turn you stepped up to the counter and began naming off the items you needed to purchase. Very challenging in another language! My hubby hated this store by the way! It is actually still open twelve years later! Every time I drop in there now those same ladies who worked there when I first arrived in Russia just smile, ask me how village life is, how the kids are, because they remember me trying my hardest to communicate with them back when I spoke very little Russian. :)

Since Beka and I were celebrating Women's Day on our day out, we planned to eat lunch at a new restaurant which Beka had never been to called "Country". They got our attention when they showed a  ribeye steak on one of their advertisements! My hubby and I tried it out first to check if the steak was really, well, steak. It was yummy and so Beka and I decided to go again to try something else on the menu.

Pictures of Native American Indians and aged western movie ads adorn the walls.

The restaurant is uniquely decorated in "country" style (as a Russian sees it). In the evenings they even  project American western movies on the wall!

My girl loves meat so she was excited to try it out. I ordered a salad with roast beef (also an unusual treat), we shared cheese sticks (also a rare find!), and she ordered...pork ribs! Oh, was she happy!

An another surprise for her was that they served Coca-Cola in those little bottles that she thinks are just adorable! Believe it or not, this missionary kid had never drank Coke out of one of these little bottles. She loves it when I tell her how I used to walk to the store with a childhood friend just to buy these little bottles of Coke and some candy.

Lunch was followed up by ice cream! I was able to take Beka to see our new craft store for her first time where we purchased gifts for our church ladies. Even ran into an old friend we hadn't seen in years and  continued our shopping until it was time to catch the bus back home.

I love a good "day off" every now and then to relax and enjoy time with my daughter who is growing into a beautiful young lady right before my eyes!

Giveaway at Another Missionary Wife's Blog

I was just reading a post from a missionary wife in Australia that blogs over at Be Thou Exalted. I don't personally know Jen, (the author) but she started another blog for missionary women called Baptist Missionary Women, as well as, a BMW group through Facebook that has been a tremendous blessing and encouragement to many of us missionary ladies across the globe. On her personal blog, Be Thou Exalted, Jen is celebrating her fourth year of blogging as well as her 1,000th post with a giveaway that I think many of you Mommas with small children might be very interested in. 

Take a look at her blog and the giveaway of a Child Training Bible kit to use in the discipline and training of your children. I had never heard of this idea before I read Jen's blog giveaway. It's one of those things you wish you, yourself would have come up with!

I think this kit is a great idea (using the KJV) to help parents keep the Scriptures ever before our child's eyes and to teach them to use them as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Ps. 119:105). It could even be used to help our children hide God's Word in their hearts as they daily review verses which deal with specific issues (i.e., anger, jealousy, tattling) highlighted in their Bibles.

Check it out and enter the giveaway!

What In the World Do I Wear?

I think this will have to be the last "Frozen Tales" post for the season because, honestly, I am ready for SPRING! 

The temperatures have stretched up a little higher than zero Celsius. The days are getting longer. Plus temperatures and a little bit of sunshine are all we need around here to get excited about spring's soon arrival!

However, to answer one question we are frequently asked as we travel around visiting churches on furlough is, "How do you dress for such cold temperatures?" So, I asked my daughter to take a quick photo of me before I went out one day for a quick trek to the store to buy some fresh bread (we do this daily since the bread only keeps for about three days).

So, here I am all bundled up and ready to go! 

Under the coat is also several layers of shirts, tights, thermals, a skirt and  as many pairs of socks as I can fit into my boots to keep me warm.

Those strange looking boots on my feet are called "Valenky". These boots are made out of a thick felt. I am sure you would agree that they are completely UN-fashionable! I only wear them out in the village when I must walk to the store. Normally, ladies wear fur boots that are very stylish with high- heels and all! I have those too. But, when the temperatures are 30 degrees below zero and I am just walking around in the village thinking about keeping my toes warm enough until I get home, that's when I break out the "valenky."

The beautiful thing about "valenky" is that you can wear your thickest, warmest socks with them and still have plenty of room. The standard rule when buying "valenky" is to be sure the size is large enough so you can kick them off and send them flying! So they easily allow for extra layers of socks! Nowadays, "valenky" are actually considered to be in style since designers began sewing felt flowers, designs, and everything imaginable on the sides of them to make them more feminine and (supposedly) pretty. Oh, and this also allows them to charge three times the price for them as well! If I really feel the need I am sure I could make mine more pretty too by adding some embellishments but for now I wear the longest skirt I have with them to make them less noticeable.

Supposedly, the warmest boots you can find here look like these:

These boots are called "Unty" and are often made with reindeer fur. They come with various designs and colors. I haven't been willing to pay for a pair of these yet! The fur makes them cost a bit more than the plain  "valenky".

Hats of all shapes and furs can easily be purchased in the outdoor markets. My dear hubby bought me a nice mink fur hat when we first arrived in Russia but it made me so warm when I wore it that I had to stop wearing it! Now, I just wear a simple wool hat and use my hood like in the above photo if it is really cold and windy.

Well, from head to toe that gives you an idea of how we dress around here for the cold winter days. 

I think I will go put away some of these things to make myself feel like spring is even closer!

Winter Fun

Obviously, with our long winters, people here have to find many different ways to beat the winter blues and enjoy some outdoor recreation. We have a ski resort, Bobrovy Log, for down hill skiing and snowboarding.

Photo Source

Snowmobile tracks can be seen all over the sides of the roads and up the hillsides. 

Photo Source

Cross-country skiing is also a very popular sport. Our kids love it!  I love it when I can go out with them. It is definitely a good activity for our boys to help them expend their "extra" energy after long school days!

Ice Skating is also a great way to enjoy the winter weather.

An even better way to enjoy the winter weather is to go sledding down ice slides that people make by building elevated steps up to a wooden ramp. Hot water is poured onto the boards again and again to build up layers of ice.

Eventually the ice runs all the way down a street or path. Some can be made completely out of snow and ice. This particular ice slide was made by a man who lives in our village. He built the slide right beside his house so he could stand out on a balcony and watch the children as they slide down the street.

Beka enjoying the slide.

The kids loved to pile up with my husband and slide down with five or six children hanging on to a large piece of cardboard or whatever they could find to give them the quickest and farthest run!

For those who enjoy a bit more extreme fun, we found a new way to make the best of winter weather here in Siberia.

 This is something a little more ingenuitive, creative, and masculine.

Recently as my hubby was driving our daughter to piano lessons (in our village), he spotted something we had never seen here before.

Ready?

A snowcycle??


We've actually seen this beast in action. It's quite funny watching a guy drive this around.  We need to catch it being driven around and video it to post on here!

Just goes to prove the old saying, "Boys will be boys," no matter where they are in the world!