Russian? Spanish? English?

Alex' "tour" of the high school on Thursday wasn't  tour at all.  It was basically a field trip to see a concert which she was less than impressed with.  :)  Oh well, at least she had a fun day.  After the field trip her grade pretty much just goofed off and played games the rest of the day.  A seems to be doing well in school as far as adjusting, making friends and communicating with her teachers.  Jeff and I met with her ESOL teacher on Thursday morning.  While A's conversational skills are great, she simply can't read or write in English well at this point.  Her ESOL teacher has communicated this with A's teachers so she is working with modifications in her classes.  Her math and science teachers are giving her printed instructions in Spanish which is very helpful.

After A got home from school this afternoon one of our neighbors and her 7 year old daughter came over the meet Alex.  Our neighbor is from Ukraine but has been in America for 19 years.  She is fluent in Russian and has taught her daughter the Russian language as well.  She brought with her something to make for Alex.  It was similar to porridge and Alex said she would have it with dinner every night in Ukraine.  I thought it was really good, too.  She also told us about a Russian food store nearby that we can check out and see if there is anything that A would like.  Can't wait to go!

We had our first post placement visit with our social worker tonight so that she could make sure Alex was adjusting to family life well.  The visit was about an hour and I was very proud of how engaged and engaging Alex was.  The visit is just part of the paperwork process of the adoption.  Not everyone has to do this, but it was part of the agreement we had with the adoption agency we used.  We will have another visit in a month.

Alex told us she wanted to get a summer job!  Considering the fact we won't even be around most of the summer I don't think it would work out, but it really surprised me she wanted to go to work.  I'm not sure why, other than the fact that her friend, C, is job hunting now.  Perhaps next summer she can look, but in the meantime maybe she can find a few families that would let her babysit.

Tomorrow is Saturday...the day she gets to call two of her friends in Ukraine.  She is truly happy to be here, but she really, really misses her friends.  To be honest, I miss her friends, too, and I was only there for a month!  It must be so hard for her, but she is holding together remarkably well.  There is actually a boy from A's school in Ukraine that was adopted along with his younger brother by a family in North Carolina.  He has been home since last fall.  They talk to each other a few times a week which I think is great.  While learning more and more English is really important, I want her to retain her Russian and speaking to friends on the phone helps her with that.  She is getting to the point that she sometimes can't figure out if a word she is about to say is Russian, Spanish or English.

Next week is the last week of school before Spring Break.  We are *all* in need of a break.  And then after Spring Break there is only seven weeks of school before summer vacation!  My, how quickly time is flying!

 

 

 

High School already?

Alex came home from school today and told me that on Thursday her grade will go over to the high school for a tour.  So cool that A gets to experience that when everyone else does.  While I'm sure some of the kids from her grade have already been in the building, it will be the first official tour for everyone.  Also on Thursday is my first parent/teacher conference for Alex.  I will be meeting with her ESOL teacher to discuss the score A received on her placement test for English as a second language.  She scored pretty low, which is fine by me because it affords her more assistance on the upcoming standardized tests that she will have to take.  Her conversational English speaking skills are quite good, but her reading comprehension and spelling skills aren't up to par.

On Sunday our friends had a "Grand Opening" event for their new store, Fido's Market (www.FidosMarket.com).  As a family we helped out with the event.  Alex had fun running all over the place and as she *loves* dogs she was in heaven getting to play with so many different ones.  We even got to see a very cool K9 demonstration which I think helped change Alex' opinion of police officers for the better.  Let's just say the police in Ukraine are a bit different that the police in America.

The Fabulous Miss A was a little tired and cranky this morning.  She didn't want to go to school and as a result dragged her feet long enough getting out the door that she almost missed the bus.  She had only gotten a few feet away from the house when the bus pulled up about 130 yards away.  She just stopped. Jeff yelled to her to RUN!  She started to run, made it about halfway and stopped again.  Jeff yelled to her to RUN! again.  She made the bus, and it's a good thing.  It would have been one thing if she had an actual reason for missing the bus, but to miss it because she simply didn't *want* to catch it just isn't going to fly with me.  A is a very good girl, but *S*T*U*B*B*O*R*N*.  I'm pretty sure that she thought maybe, just maybe, if she missed the bus she wouldn't have to go to school.

Spring break is coming up in less than two weeks.  I plan to put the three kids in the car and drive down to Grammy's house in FL.  Jeff won't be able to make it, but we should have fun anyway.  And when we come back we will be able to attend a family gathering at my mom's house for my nephew, John, who just returned from Afghanistan.  Can't wait to squish him!  :)

School Day #2

Today was a much better day for A.  She is still not able to figure out how to open her locker without asking another student for help, but that was her only issue that she told me about.  She only had math homework to do tonight and she whipped through that in about 10 minutes.  She rode the bus home and even seemed okay with that.  It was great to see her in good spirits this afternoon.  After homework her friend, C, came over and the girls walked to the park and then came back home to ride bikes.  C's mom was kind enough to have A and our 8 year old over for dinner while I took our 6 year old to Acro class.  What a great evening for all my kids.  :)

New School Blahs

A's first day of school wasn't great, unfortunately.  It was very overwhelming for her.  When kids would ask where she was from (expecting the answer to be another state) and she would tell them Ukraine that would ignite a firestorm of questions.  All.  Day.  Long.  Hopefully this week will be a good "breaking in" period and the novelty of having a new student from Ukraine will wear off by next week.  She is also worried that her teachers don't understand that her English reading/writing skills are not developed yet.  Her ESOL teacher will be testing her today to see what level she should be on.  When Alex went into her ESOL class yesterday the teacher asked if English was her second language.  Alex said no.  Then the teacher asked why she was in the class then.  Alex said it was because English was her fourth language.  Little Miss Smarty Pants strikes again.  :)  We really want her to keep her Russian, Ukrainian and Spanish skills up, but I worry throwing English into the mix is going to cause something to slide.  Thankfully she was able to connect with one of her friends from Spain on FB and she keeps in contact with friends from Ukraine so that should help keep her conversational skills fresh. 

I walked her to the bus stop this morning.  Well, I walked her almost all the way to the bus stop.  We stopped about 30 yards short and she just stood there.  I waited for her to either say something or start walking again.  I asked her if she wanted to walk the rest of the way alone (I didn't want to embarrass her as none of the other kids had their moms with them  :)  ).  Finally the bus came and she said she didn't want to ride it.  I said that was fine and I would drive her.  She was relieved and said she would ride the bus home after school.  As I dropped her off I said I hoped she had a good day, and she smiled and said she would try.

Only three more weeks and then it's Spring Break.  Can't wait!  I think we are all going to need the break!

Tomorrow is the big day!

Alex is registered for school and she starts tomorrow.  We took a tour of the school today and I realized it is even bigger than I had originally thought.  Our 'tour guide" was a 7th grader from Russia.  A is *very* nervous (read: scared) and I'm a little nervous for her.  In her school in Ukraine there were 155 students in 9 grades.  She had ten students in her class and that was including her!  There are over 1200 students in three grades at her new school.  The gymnasium alone is bigger than one floor of her old school.  They didn't have her schedule in the computer as of this morning so we have no idea what her days will look like for the rest of the school year.  I will drive her in tomorrow morning so she can get her class schedule, but I am hoping to get her comfortable with the bus schedule ASAP.  Big changes are in store for the Fabulous Miss A.

All in all I think things are going well.  Life will change in a huge way tomorrow, but hopefully she can find her groove, make new friends and start enjoying her new life as a United States citizen.  She was able to become Facebook friends with a girl from her school in Ukraine that had been adopted by a Spanish family a few years ago.  She has been able to call her two of her friends in Ukraine a few times which I think has helped with missing them so much.

I know I have been remiss in getting photos posted and I will fix that pronto!  :)

School Registration

I took Alex to school today to turn in paperwork to get her registered.  Everything looks good.  She has a doctor appointment on Monday to have her immunization records transferred to a State of GA form, and I still have to get her ear, eye & dental forms.  Other than that, she should be ready to go!  I plan to have her start school on Wednesday.  She is nervous.  Honestly, I'm a little nervous, too.  Always before she has been on vacation while in America.  School makes this whole adoption thing very, very real for her.  I know she's going to do great, but I also know it is going to be a *huge* adjustment.

Everything else is going well.  She misses her BFF, Violetta.  She has called her almost every day since we've been home.  Violetta misses her, too.  We went to the post office yesterday to send V a care package and then later in the day A received a letter from V.  I'm so glad I had our facilitator get the pre-stamped envelopes to give to V before we left Ukraine!

I can't believe we have been home for a week now.  In one way it feels like a lifetime ago that I was in Ukraine, and in another way I still feel like I am trying to get back into the loop of life at home.  My friend, Kelly, sent me a message about how she misses our cute little waitress at our favorite restaurant.  So funny, because I miss her, too, and I feel like I abandoned her by not telling her we wouldn't be back!  I know, weird.

Gym Monster

Let's just say Alex *really* liked the gym.  We are going back tonight so she can take a class.  This morning she tried a few pieces of cardio equipment and a few pieces of strengthening equipment.  Then she saw a group of people taking a "Zumba" class and just about came out of her skin with excitement.  We checked out the schedule and there is a Hip Hop class tonight she wants to take.  Later this week there is a "Latin Fusion" class she wants to take.  I think my evenings just got a lot busier!

Last night our 8 year old son had his Hip Hop class at the dance studio.  I asked Alex if she wanted to come with me, or stay home and watch her 6 year old sister.  (Jeff was out of town)  She just looked at me with a surprised look on her face and couldn't believe she had a choice.  When she was here on the hosting program she always had to be with either Jeff or me.  She chose to stay home and watch her sister.  Then, to make things even sweeter, our 16 year old neighbor wanted Alex to come over for a little while.  So...Alex went over with her sister and then all three girls came back to our house while I was with R at his class.  I think A is enjoying her newfound freedom!

Getting into the groove.

Alex and I are both still trying to adjust to jet lag.  She seems to be getting better, I seem to be getting worse.  Hopefully over the next few days things will even out and we will both be on East Coast time.

Alex asked last night if we could go for a run this morning.  I hadn't run in 6+ weeks, and she hadn't run in 6+ months.  We are different style runners.  I am very slow, but I can run for a long time.  She sprints, but for short distances.  We went out this morning for a run, made it 1.6 miles and then she got frustrated because it was hard and wouldn't run anymore.  So we walked the 1.6 miles back home.  She seems to think she can just jump right back into it without missing a beat.  I had to talk to her about the fact that there are a lot of really big hills in our neighborhood where she is used to running around the flat school soccer fields in Ukraine.  Hopefully she is willing to give it another try.  Next time I won't get so far away from home and I will remind her to slow down a bit.  I will also get her added to our gym membership this week.  I think she would really enjoy the different equipment there.

Last night she started her new dance class.  She said she liked it, so hopefully she will be happy there.  There is only three more months of class before summer break, then she can choose a different class for the fall if she would like.

I am going to take Alex clothes shopping today and try to get through the school registration paperwork.  I am hoping to get her started in school toward the middle of next week.  That should give her plenty of time to adjust without giving her too much time to get used to not going to school.  She has already been out for a week, so I don't want to wait too long to enroll her.

And, of course, she now has a Facebook account.  I helped her send out friend requests to family and friends from church/neighborhood.  We will keep a close eye on her account and we have given her the warnings about not accepting friend requests if she doesn't actually know the person.

It is still an adjustment to realize that we are actually home.  I am very glad to be home, but at the same time, I really miss Ukraine.  We told Alex we would try to go back to visit the summer of 2012 but I honestly don't know if *I* can wait that long!  

Home! (Very short post!)

We had non-eventful flights which is always a good thing, and we are home safe and sound.  Obviously it was an incredibly long day and I don't even know where to start with what I need to do now.  It didn't seem to phase R&M that I was gone for five weeks and I think Sushi the Cat is almost over being mad at me.

I am in desperate need of a shower and a toothbrush.  Off I go to enjoy a shower where I don't have to hold the shower head the entire time.  :)

S~

Day 35 - Time to say "Dosvadonya, Ukraine"

Visas are in hand, bags are packed and alarms are set.  For 1:45AM.  Taxi is picking us up at 3AM.

We had a good last day in Kyiv.  We ate brunch then went to an open air market to do a little shopping, went to the Embassy to pick up the visas, went back to the market to buy one last thing, dropped off bags at the apartment and went out to dinner.  We re-packed our suitcases to make room for our purchases and now we are going to attempt to get some sleep.  If I fall asleep in the next 15 minutes I can get 4.5 hours in!   I'm not holding my breath that falling asleep in 15 minutes is actually going to happen!

It's been an amazing journey.  Tomorrow is sure to be exhausting, but it will be good to be home.  I imagine I will be too tired to post anything tomorrow, but I will try to catch up on Sunday.  Thanks so much for following us on our journey.

Day 34 - Are we tired yet?

While in Ukraine I have not been sleeping well.  It's not jet lag.  It's a combination of uncomfortable beds and not being able to turn my brain off.  Last night was an all-nighter.  I didn't sleep at all.  Add that with the three hours of sleep I got the night before last and you can imagine what kind of shape I am in.  Alex isn't much better off.  She got less that three hours of sleep herself last night and I know the last few days she has been too excited to sleep.  Needless to say, we are wiped out and ready for some rest.  Soon!

Today we were picked up in Lugans'k by our facilitator at 5AM.  Drove to the Lugans'k airport for our 7AM flight.  You know you are getting on a small plane when at 5'1" tall you bump your head coming through the door!  Once in Kyiv our facilitator here picked us up and drove us to the US Embassy to apply for Visa's for Alex & Maksim.  Our appointments were at 10:30 & 11:00, but everything went so smoothly that we were finished there before 11:00.  Next we were off for the medical exams.  Not the most fun any of us have had, but it wasn't too bad.  We were finished there and heading to our apartment around 1:00.  Our facilitator here found us a two bedroom apartment so Kelly and I are staying together with the kids.  By 2:00 we were about to start eating our own arms so we headed out for some food.  McDonald's was the winner.  I never eat at McDonalds in America, but from the way I ate today you would have thought I had an addiction.  Chicken nuggets, fries, a COKE (I *never* drink soda) AND and ice cream sundae.  Man was it good!

Tomorrow we go back to the Embassy at 2:00 to pick up visas and then: We. Are. Done.  Yes, you read that right!  Flight out of Kyiv leaves Saturday morning at 5:30....YIKES!!!  Short layover in Frankfurt then straight to Atlanta.  Insert big sigh of relief here.  :)

Something funny happened to Kelly and I earlier today that I thought I would share.  We had landed in Kyiv and rode the bus from the puddle jumper  airplane to the terminal to collect our baggage.  Kelly and I were chatting away and a man standing next to us commented on the english speaking ladies.  He asked a few small talk questions and we answered and in turn asked him a few questions as well.  When we told him we were from Georgia he complimented us by saying we didn't sound like hillbillies.  (Yep, it's true)  He asked why we were in Ukraine and we told him and out of courtesy we asked him why he was in Ukraine.  His reply: "Well I came here to meet a lady.  I've been all over...China, Japan, Philippines, Thailand."  What exactly do you say to that?  Good Luck?  Any takers?  Then we were able to snag our luggage and start our getaway when he decided to welcome the kids to America.  Ummm...we are still in Ukraine, right?  Thank goodness his luggage hadn't come yet.

And that was our day.  We did do quite a bit of walking around this afternoon which was nice.  We will have most of the day tomorrow to explore as well and then it is time to pack it up and say Dosvidanya, Ukraine!"

Day 33 - Home by the weekend!

Passports are in hand!  Tonight is our last night in Lugans'k.  We catch a 7AM flight tomorrow for Kyiv.  Embassy appointments are in the morning, then we will do the medicals.  We can pick up visas on Friday and fly *home* on Saturday.  Can you believe it?  Kelly, Maksim, Alex and I should be able to travel together back to Atlanta which will make the long flight bearable.  It has been great having Kelly here!

Alex had her farewell party at school today and even the boys had tears they were trying to discreetly wipe away.  I will post some photos of the party as soon as I can.  Our facilitator ran to the post office for me to pick up prepaid envelopes for the kids to use to write to Alex.  I hope they use them.  Alex keeps expressing her disbelief that this has actually happened.

I haven't even begun to pack yet...not looking forward to it.  Especially because we will be in Kyiv for two nights.  I really don't like "living" out of a suitcase.  As I have a few minutes before the evening gets started here I guess I should go ahead and get a few things packed.

:)
S~

 

Day 32 - Another long day!

We started out the day by traveling to the birth city of Alex and Kelly's son, Maksim.  Just under three hours after arriving at the records office we walked out with birth certificates in hand.  A quick stop at a roadside kiosk provided us with the brunch of champions: Snickers for Sergei & I and Peanut M&M's for Kelly.  Then it was back to Lugans'k so our facilitator could start greasing the wheels for the kids passports.  Then to Lutugino so we could visit with the kids while our facilitator ran from building to building gathering papers and signatures.  You would not believe the amount of paperwork that this man handles!  There was a mixup/misunderstanding regarding when we were taking the kids and when their "farewell" party would be.  The director thought perhaps Alex and Maksim might want to stay another night so they would be leaving on the day of their party.  Uhhh...no.  So, we shall go back to Lutugino with A&M tomorrow so they can have a class party and say their goodbyes.  Every hour of our day tomorrow is filled with a few overlapping time slots.  It's gonna be another busy day.

Our biggest hurdle tomorrow is having our Kyiv facilitator get our appointments for the kids medicals and Embassy appointments on Thursday and Friday of this week.  If this doesn't happen then we will be here until *next* Wednesday/Thursday as Monday and Tuesday are holidays.  And all of this hinges on actually getting A&M's passports tomorrow at 3:00 as promised!

So I've got the girl with me in my apartment as I type.  She got to talk with R&M and Grandmom, too.  So cool that I got to take her out to dinner and she didn't have to ask permission from a teacher to come with me.  She is a very happy girl!  :)

And I am a very tired girl.  :)  My lazy days are definitely over and it has been a rude awakening.  But I love it.

Thanks for waiting patiently for an update...or not so patiently, depending on who you are!

S~