stevenpiziks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
stevenpiziks) wrote2011-06-28 01:24 am
stevenpiziks) wrote2011-06-28 01:24 am
Maksim's Half Birthday, with a Letter
We celebrated Maksim's half birthday over the weekend. Since his real birthday is so close to Christmas, we do a celebration for him in June; otherwise it gets lost in the holiday explosion.
When I asked Maksim what kind of cake he wanted, he said, "One with green frosting." Okay. I made a carrot cake and colored the frosting green. It looked strange, but Mackie liked it.
My mother and brother came by, as did my in-laws, so we had quite the little gathering. The weather had finally cleared up after several days of clouds and rain, so we barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs. For presents, Mackie got some powerful water pistols, more bakugan toys, Nerf gun refills, and a set of toy handcuffs (because he wants to be a policeman when he grows up). He also got two expansion packs to City of Heroes, his favorite on-line game.
While I was installing the add-ons to his game, a piece of email arrived from our translator friend Gene in Ukraine. He had a letter from Sasha and Maksim's sister Larissa, which he had translated and attached. I printed it out and gave it to Maksim to read. He wanted to sit down right away to write back. Sasha got the letter next. He was reluctant to write back at first, but Maksim insisted, so he did. I wrote a letter of my own--the boys tend to be short to the point of curt--to fill in more details. Later, I typed up the boys' letters, sent Gene a translator's fee via Western Union, and emailed everything to him so he can translate and send to Larissa.
I think Sasha's family and the boys believe Gene is doing this to be nice. They don't know I'm paying both ends for translation. Heh. But they don't need to know, and Gene's fees are reasonable. Really, he should expand into that as part of his business.
And now Maksim is nine and a half! Can you believe it?
When I asked Maksim what kind of cake he wanted, he said, "One with green frosting." Okay. I made a carrot cake and colored the frosting green. It looked strange, but Mackie liked it.
My mother and brother came by, as did my in-laws, so we had quite the little gathering. The weather had finally cleared up after several days of clouds and rain, so we barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs. For presents, Mackie got some powerful water pistols, more bakugan toys, Nerf gun refills, and a set of toy handcuffs (because he wants to be a policeman when he grows up). He also got two expansion packs to City of Heroes, his favorite on-line game.
While I was installing the add-ons to his game, a piece of email arrived from our translator friend Gene in Ukraine. He had a letter from Sasha and Maksim's sister Larissa, which he had translated and attached. I printed it out and gave it to Maksim to read. He wanted to sit down right away to write back. Sasha got the letter next. He was reluctant to write back at first, but Maksim insisted, so he did. I wrote a letter of my own--the boys tend to be short to the point of curt--to fill in more details. Later, I typed up the boys' letters, sent Gene a translator's fee via Western Union, and emailed everything to him so he can translate and send to Larissa.
I think Sasha's family and the boys believe Gene is doing this to be nice. They don't know I'm paying both ends for translation. Heh. But they don't need to know, and Gene's fees are reasonable. Really, he should expand into that as part of his business.
And now Maksim is nine and a half! Can you believe it?