Stone Resolutions for 2012

I'm sure you've been on the edge of your seat just dying to know what the Stone's plans are for change in 2012...am I right?  I don't want to disappoint.  Drum roll please...

Ryland - To learn to stop as well on rollerblades as he can on ice skates.
Mama - Incorporate more Kaz culture and tradition into our home.
Papa - To lose 15(ish) pounds.


And there you have it.  Earth-shattering.

We like to think of things that we can accomplish and won't consume us.  I won't lie, my resolution last year was to incorporate more brown into my mostly black wardrobe.  I'm serious.  But, it was something that was important to me and I really thought about that while shopping.  I'm a black and charcoal kind of girl...it was a BIG change!  Anyway, back to 2012...I'm really excited to bring more culture into our home for Ryland's benefit.  I don't think we've done a very good job of it so far.  It has taken us about a year and a half just to figure out having a kid in our home.  HUGE ADJUSTMENT PERIOD!  Now that we have a lot more figured out...it's time.  We started the year off right because Ded Moroz (Father Frost) came to visit us all the way from Kazakhstan on New Years Eve.  He left a few little things for Ryland and he was amazed.  We dug out some old photographs of Ryland when he was 3 at the baby house during a party when Father Frost came to visit.  It was a pretty cool experience.  Phase 1 complete.  Phase 2, is that I want to incorporate Russian/Kazakh (Ded Moroz) decorations in with our Christmas stash...I've been searching the internet like crazy.

We had such a great Victory Day while we were in Kaz, that we want to celebrate that this year with our family.  We plan to have a big picnic at a park (just like we did in Pavlodar) and listen to music (we have a Victory Day CD). 

We plan to make borscht more often and would like to make some of the other delicious foods that we ate while we were there.  The rest of my plans are still a work in process!