Adjustments , Adventures and Academics..well ABC's at least

The first month home has seen lots of laughter, a little sulking and many new experiences. So many things are different here, even simple things like food and the bathroom. The kids had been encircled with loving family, friends and acquaintances and sometimes seem to feel like we hug too much in this country!

Homeschooling is progressing well and I registered us with the county so it’s official. We're using "Teaching Textbooks" for math. It has a teacher with a calm, level, male voice who logically explains each skill and everything so far has been on the computer. They both tested out to be about grade three so I'm starting them there and hope that when this level is finished, we can retest and skip up to five. Starting on an early level has the bonus of giving them a chance to learn English math vocabulary and numbers while reviewing basic skills. They have a lot of ground to cover in the next few months and years. Soaring with Spelling, grade one, is just right for now with its phonetically based approach and simple unillustrated format which is better for older kids. I'm still looking for a reading curriculum, but for now am using books and writing little things for them. Last night I wrote simple skits for them to learn and then perform for Mark. All three kids loved it. The skits reinforce skills like basic introductions and they love them. We are still going to the library almost every day for Rosetta Stone and they are making so much progress, I decided to schedule some afternoon slots so Andrew could come too. He is sailing through of course, but it’s good for him and is raising his academic confidence.

I'm a little worried about how we will ever get Nadia in particular up to speed in time to graduate from High School before she's 35, but try not to think about much more than today's challenges. She has a huge challenge in front if her, but her expectations are much better than the prospects she left behind in Ukraine.

Andrew and Nicholas are still best buddies and have lots of fun together. Last week they had an adventure in the woods near our house. They pack a backpack with food, water, something to dig with, compasses and binoculars and set of exploring. I let them bring the camera and the photos were very funny. Of course one was the standard Ukrainian casually posing next to a tree shot.

Nicholas does not like food. He hates cheese, and even said he might not eat cheese if it was the only way to get to heaven. It's nice for him that it's lent and I'm making vegan dinners for the family. Much of the time, he plays with his food and eats as little as possible. Andrew loves food with the exception of peanut butter, zucchini and broccoli. I made Paella and discovered that scary sea creatures mixed with saffron rice and peas was a new thing he wasn't fond of. He tried to charm us out of making him eat and resorted to the Big Gun:

"Who Cute?" he asked, adding his cuteness to Mary Evelyn's. If only he could be cute enough, he was sure he wouldn't have to eat Paella. It was a lot of highly concentrated cuteness….

Oh well. He ate it. So did Nicholas, who was greatly saddened when he was visiting friends the next day  and  they served Paella for lunch! What's wrong with these Americans?

It's not so bad; I've made Borscht a couple times and even found a recipe for their favorite soup: green borscht.

Green Borscht: 1 bag spinach (chopped), 1 bundle Swiss Chard, chopped, 1 onion -chopped, veggie broth, a couple potatoes, peeled and chopped, a little lemon juice, salt and about a tablespoon dill and parsley.

Sauté onion. Add everything else and bring to boil.  Add extra water to make it look like soup. Cook until everything is soft and it looks better. Serve with chopped green onions, slices of hard boiled egg and fresh chopped parsley sprigs.

They love it and were excited that I served it with Mrs. T's potato Pirogues which I called veranikis and served Ukrainian style with butter and sour cream.

Yum!

At church we had an adoption service. The prayers take about five minutes, but are beautiful: http://www.goarch.org/chapel/liturgical_texts/adoption

My kids are very comfortable in our church. Being adopted into an Orthodox family definitely helped them with part of their adjustment. They seem happier all the time and look healthier too. I know I mentioned sulking in the beginning, but maybe I sulk as much as they do so we’ll keep that private. I’m home alone tonight (deep happy sigh).

I have a funny story about Nicholas and Andrew in the dog house, but that has to wait for now. This has been a long, long entry........but if you're an endurance reader,

I've been updating my other blog lately: http://www.hopebeyondhope.me/

It's about finding joy while grieving.....

PS my e-mail is ednamking@gmail.com

Haircuts and Homeschooling!

After being home for almost two weeks, the kids are getting more acclimated and the household is running pretty smoothly. I've only had a few moments of wondering how crazy I am, maybe because I'm too busy to think much. The kids seem very happy and to be adjusting remarkably well. I wonder if they've had many of their  own "what have I done ?" moments, but on the whole, they look healthier and more confident each day.

Their English is progressing. Nicholas blurted out his first spontaneous sentence, "I no stinky!" while pointing the blaming finger at Andrew in the car the other night. Nadia and I seem to be able to communicate pretty well without a common language . We use charades. We mostly communicate about getting things done lie making dinner, going to the store and other basic things. It's probably good that we can't talk and get all emotional yet. It's better to have less emotion while we get to know each other.  Having a few Russian speakers in her life helps  because if there was anything critical going on, they'd tell me.
I was thrown a little off kilter when they asked to call their sisters in Ukraine. I said yes and so they did. It was a really strange feeling to hear them talking and asking her to say hi to mama. I had one of those "why are we doing this" moments, but tried to be mature about it. This is the reality of adopting older, social orphans. They have a family, it's just that their family didn't take care of them. The losses faced by social orphans might be worse in some ways than kids whose parents have died because it's kind of an ongoing rejection. They clearly crave parental love.

We've started our second week of homeschooling and are settling into a routine. Each lesson starts with a math brainteaser. Then we practice writing the alphabet and developing letter sound relationships using first grade level books which have fun and short activities. They can both read a little already, particularly Nicholas who amazed me by reading a paragraph last week. Comprehensions isn't so great, but the phonics are coming along well. They practice math facts each day. My favorite part of the day is going to the library for ESL Rosetta Stone. I also have them watch movies in English. It's tricky to find one with clear articulation and repetitive words that teenager can still stand watching and so I was happy to catch them watching Mary Evelyn's Barbie movies because they are perfect for this.
All three kids are very helpful with chores. They each make their bed and Nadia keeps her room very tidy. I can't say the boys' room is as neat, but it's acceptable. Nadia helps me cook and clean up after meals and the boys take out the trash, set the table, walk the dog and get drinks for dinner. They all vacuum and help with other chores too. I've created three chore lists that they will be assigned on a weekly basis starting next Monday. I labelled the lists A B and C and will rotate them so chores will be assigned equally.

Nadia has had a chance to start getting to know some girls at church and daughters of friends of ours. I was so happy when our friends' daughter told us they like the same music, movies and of course, Johnny Depp. It's great for Nadia to get to know other teens. Our church has just started a teen group and Nadia and Nicholas will be part of it.

Andrew loves his newest brother and sister, but has been reverting, becoming more little boyish, to ensure his place. He even asked if he could go to the doctor for a shot when the other kids went! His language is reverting too. After speaking Ukrainian with his siblings he seems to say "this.....this" a lot because he can't find English words that he used to. It reminds me of the Sponge Bob episode where he throws away everything he knows except how to be a waiter and inside his brain they depict little Sponge Bob clerks shredding thoughts.... Poor Andrew seems to be shredding language thoughts and coming up with " this, this".

The kids have a lot of doctor appointments. Nicholas is completely deaf in one ear so I took him to see Mary Evelyn's ENT today to see if this can be surgically repaired. It can't because the eardrum is intact, the problem is that tiny bones in the inner ear  are damaged. Hearing aids won't help, but luckily he has perfect hearing in the other ear. He also is going to the eye doctor to get glasses. The first dental appointment is next week. The dentist does a great job of making it friendly and pleasant so maybe it'll be easy.

They had one really fun appointment this week: hair cuts at Glamourama! That's the wonderful salon which hosted Cuts for a Cure for Mary Evelyn. Everyone at Glamourama was excited and happy to meet our newest kids and Miss Cindy came to watch, too! A fresh haircut and lots of smiles and hugs really complete the transformation from orphan to American kids in a family!






Nicholas pored over a hairstyling book until he found just the right one. Andrew selected a different look and was very happy. Each morning they ask Mark to put gel in their hair to maintain their cool dude look.

Nadia was a little uneasy about the amount of length she lost. It needed to be cut, and she looks a lot prettier with her mew lovely hairstyle, but it's often hard for girls to adjust to having three inches suddenly gone. After she mentioned it one too many times, I showed her a photo of Mary Evelyn bald and said she was able to be happy even bald. No more complaints. We naturally feel sorry for orphans and for children who've had to fight cancer, but one thing they both need is to not feel too sorry for themselves and to be thankful for the life they've been given - which is a huge thing I'm still learning from Mary Evelyn's example.

I have a lot more to write about, including the adoption service we had on Sunday, Andrew and Nicholas' adventure in the woods, how Andrew tried to get out of eating scary looking sea creatures in his Paella and other fun topics, but I'm saving that for later because it becomes too much to read.

I'll try to update later today or tomorrow!.

Well, really I wrote that last week, but still, there is another update coming soon!


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