Kassing's Coming Home

Wow, I'm a bit behind again.  I went to finally download these pictures on my computer and put them in a folder for August pictures, only to look at the date on them and have it be the end of July.  Things have been super busy as we've started school and tried to establish a routine that works for us.  Now that that's the case, I'm hoping I'll be on here a bit more.  I have at least kept up with blogs I follow, I just haven't added to mine at all.

Anyway...on to the reason for the post!  Skip and Jami were some awesome people that I met after the hosting program was over.  It's amazing to me that we all met each other before the kids arrived, but even with all the activities we did as a whole group, I really only got to know a few people during the actual hosting.  The rest I've gotten to know after the fact as we were all trying to get our paperwork done together.  Kassing's were some of those.

I felt really bad that I'd missed the last two homecomings (sorry Howick's and Conway's!!!!!!!) as I'd really wanted to be there, but it just didn't work out.  I was very glad that I made it see Jami and Pasha arrive home, even though it was just barely!  I went to say hi to Skip and saw him looking anxiously down the corridor for his wife and new son so I didn't bother him until after the fact. :)  Congrats, guys!!!!!!!!

Skip looking for Jami and Pasha

Jami coming in!

The Welcome Home sign

Pasha was good friends with Anne's kids and they were happy to see each other.

Gotta have my traditional picture in there.

Kassing Family!

All the support they had there at the airport.  Welcome Home!!!

Question

So, does anyone know why it usually takes my posts about 4 days to update on a blog roll?  (Watch, this one will actually show up right away now that I've said that.)

And, yes, I do have more to write about.  I saw some friends come home from Ukraine awhile ago and have yet to blog about it!  Sad!

The Life of a Teenager

Wow.  Who knew life was so hard as a teenager.  I tell ya.  Being thrown into the role of the mom of a teenager isn't a piece of cake either.  I don't know that it's a lot better when it comes on gradually or not, but it's not easy when it's just thrust upon you.  Okay, so I thrust it upon myself.  Still....

The new school year is almost upon us.  We actually started 2 weeks ago to work into things.  Ira wants to do homeschooling part time so I've got her signed up for 2 classes first thing in the morning.  General music and PE.  In an effort to have bedtime established by the time school starts, I started out waking them up at 9, and then increasing that 15 min/day.  It worked pretty well the first week.  I gave them 45 minutes to be ready for the day and in the family room to start with the devotional.  We've been doing quite well.  Little One picked up from where she left off before, and Ira I had start with Little One's Phonics K book.  She's got enough English down now that I thought that would work well, and it's been going great.  Since it's moving so slow, I've got her doing 8 lessons a day.  She's getting the vowel sounds mixed up a lot, but other than that, is doing great.  That's just due to Russian.  I have the opposite problem when I try Russian.  She wants to move through it faster, but I think the 8 lessons/day is plenty.  Especially now that she's got more vowels to mess up.  She's having a really hard time hearing the difference between a short "u" and a short "o."

She's doing great with math.  I've got her in a 5th grade book right now, but she's going through it quite fast.  There were some holes that needed filling so we're flying through the stuff she knows and working on the things she doesn't as much.  Part of it is learning the English words for things she already knows.  Like parallel and perpendicular. LOL  Other things are learning a whole new metric system.  Still other things are just things she's kinda missed along the way.  For a girl that hated math, she's admittedly really liking it now.  I hope she keeps that. :)

We've had a couple of not so fun days this last week.  Lots more of the, "I want Ukraine!"  See, everything between her and Little One has to be in her favor, or equal.  If Little One gets something that she doesn't then there are lots of tears and complaints about how things aren't fair or that I love Little One and not her, etc....  Yet, when she gets to go swimming for a YW activity and Little One is too little to go, there are no complaints. *sigh*  Life isn't fair and it only gets harder.

I had to really chew her out about a week ago.  She was being really nasty to Little One.  When she gets mad at me she takes it out on her and is really good about being quiet while she's doing it.  Not good enough though. :)  I'd hear her say something really mean to Little One and then come in to me with a sweet voice and pretend everything is fine.  Little One wants the relationship bad enough she doesn't come and tell me when Ira's being really mean to her.  Anyway, I pulled her aside and very firmly told her that was not acceptable.  Little One is my daughter and she is NOT to treat her that way.  SHE is also my daughter and Little One is not to treat her that way either.  She, of course, started crying and the whole, "reprove with sharpness when moved upon by the Spirit and then afterward show forth an increase of love" thing worked great.  I went and sat by her and we talked about how it's hard to have a little sibling.  My brother is 6 years younger than I am too so I know.  He didn't copy me (which is one of Ira's complaints) but it was still hard at times.  Now though, he is one of my best friends and I LOVE being around him.  We don't agree on a lot of things, but that's okay.  We both love each other, respect each other, and are VERY protective of each other.  We ended with her smiling and actually making an effort to be nicer for awhile.  She still slips into the other way at times, but I can tell she's making progress.

For example, our bedtime songs.  I've always sung to Little One at bedtime.  Always.  Now that they share a room Ira is always there for the song as well.  She's never wanted me to sing to her before, but in the last few weeks she's wanted her own song in addition to Little One's. :)  The other night I heard them in there singing to each other.  Upon farther inspection they took turns going over to the other's bed and rubbing her back while they sang, just like I do.  Super cute!  Unfortunately, that next morning was one of Ira's worst ones, but it was sweet while it lasted.  They did it again last night too though, so hopefully it will be more frequent.

Another nice thing was that Ira told Mom the other day that she wanted to be an American forever.  Again, it will probably only last until she's mad at me again, but it was nice, nonetheless.

A Day in Provo

Last week the girls and I took a trip to Provo to visit some friends.  First stop was my friend, Kerry.  She recently had back surgery and I wanted to visit her.  She'd drugged herself up the night before so she could actually be out of bed and go to her dr's appointment that afternoon so I got to see her up and about.  It was a very nice visit and I only wish it could have been longer.  Well, that and I wish I'd actually taken a picture.  She and I visited while Little One played with her boys and Ira and her newly adopted daughter, Vika, sat and didn't interact much with each other. LOL  I was impressed with Vika's English.  It's gotten lots better since I'd seen her last.  It was so funny to listen to Ira try and interpret when Vika wouldn't understand either Kerry or me.  At one point Ira turns to me and starts going off in Russian.  I was going to wait until she was done before I told her she might want to try English, but she caught herself before that.  Then she started in Russian again. LOL  She finally got the English out eventually. :)

After Kerry's house, we headed to a park to meet my friend, Laurie Ann.  Now, Laurie Ann and I have been friends since I was about 14.  I lived in Michigan and she lived here.  I found her name in a pen pal section of a homeschooling magazine and wrote to her.  We've been friends ever since. :)  The last time I saw her was right before we left for Ukraine and right after she'd had her 2nd little boy.  We had a very nice picnic lunch together and visited for a little while.  We were pretty boring though because her oldest kept asking when they could go home. LOL  It was very good to see her!

Ira and Little One on the swings

Ira, me, Laurie Ann, Luke and Peter. :)  Little One was photographer.

Next, we headed off to BYU to see my cute interpreter friend, Yulya. :)  We Skyped with her a couple of times while we were in Ukraine so she and Ira had "met" there, but never in person.  It took me almost 4 months to make it down there, but I'm so glad we finally did!  She made us borscht and some breadsticks and crapes.  Yummy!  Well, Little One didn't really think so. LOL  She didn't like borscht when Eva made it for us in Ukraine either though.  I thought it was awesome!

Borscht

Breadsticks

Crapes

After we ate we went for a walk.  It was a very warm, but beautiful day.  She showed Ira where all her classes are and we just enjoyed visiting.  Ira spoke almost all in English, even with Yulya.  As a matter of fact, Yulya said it would take a second for Ira to switch to Russian and she was a little slow with it a lot of the time.  I need to speed up my Russian learning.  Well, if she wants to forget it, that's fine, but if not, I'd like to help her remember it.

We had a wonderful day!

Ira, Yulya, me, Little One

Since then we've had a few things going on.  We saw some awesome fireworks for the 24th.  We sit right by where they shoot them off.  It was beautiful!

We also have some more major attitude about Ira's glasses.  The girl wants contacts but is in no way responsible enough for them.  Especially when her vanity won't allow her to wear the glasses so she can actually see.  While I can't force the vanity out of her, I certainly don't have to cater to it.  So, for everyday that she wears her glasses from waking up until going to bed she gets a dollar.  When she has earned enough for contacts, she may have them.  When she was told this she flipped out, started crying and saying how much she wants to go back to Ukraine and ya de ya da.  She was mad and had a majorly bad attitude the rest of the night.  When she woke up yesterday morning I told her if she wants her dollar for the day then she puts them on.  If she didn't want the dollar, she didn't have to put them on.  With an attitude, she sticks her nose up in the air (literally) and says, "No."  Whatever, child.  I did my part in getting you the glasses.  As much as I'd like to superglue them to your head, if you're so vain that you'd rather be blind that's your own problem.  What you don't get, is the privilege of taking drivers ed if you don't have the contacts completely earned by then.  It's going to be a major wake-up call when all your friends are learning how to drive and you have to do something else for almost a whole year.  Okay, so I really hope she realizes it's better to see before then and starts wearing them, but I have my doubts.  And it's not that I have a problem with her driving with glasses on.  It's that she's not responsible enough yet to be trusted behind a wheel.  Hopefully that will change by the time she gets there though.  Granted, she is only 13 (almost.)

So, last night she had to put non-matching pj bottoms on because her matching ones are in the mending pile.  She refused.  I told her I didn't care if she just came out for scriptures in her underwear with a blanket over her, but she was joining us, and she would be ready for bed.  After many tears and lots more wanting Ukraine she finally put the other pj bottoms on.  Then when she was trying to do her hair (who knew you needed your hair done to sleep in??) and she couldn't get an exact mirror image, she flipped out again.  Holy moly.  What am I going to do with her??  Is this just major hormones, or what?  I didn't do this kind of thing.  I've even asked my mom.

Miscellaneous

I found some random pictures on my iPod that I thought I'd put up here.

This is me with the awesome lady from the Center Branch in Dnepro.  I couldn't understand a word she said, but we had a fun connection anyway.  The Spirit can do that. ;) She is the one that told me she knew I was LDS from seeing me walk to church.

This was a  display in one of the Chilintano's (sp??) in Dnepro as well.  I miss that place!  I've been craving one of their pizzas.

Nathan and Little One dying Easter eggs after we got home. Obviously.

Ira and Lexi dying eggs

My FAVORITE juice.  There were a couple brands, but this is the one I brought home.  SO YUMMY.  THIS I've been craving even more.

We had to introduce Ira to smores before she headed to camp this week. 

She liked them. :)

As did Little One. :)

Speaking of camp, Ira came home this afternoon.  I guess she had a great time.  She's had lots of stories to tell. :)  She got some really cute stuff from her secret sister and lots of super nice notes from all the girls and leaders that went.  That's something she'll treasure for years.  She won the "cutest accent" award. LOL

Little One spent most of the week sick.  Just a random fever that wouldn't go away.  She started saying her throat hurt too so I took her in (I used to get strep a LOT) but it was negative.  It was fun to have the one on one time with her, but we missed Ira while she was gone as well.

4th of July

Last week was the 4th of July.  Big surprise there, I know.  We actually did most of our celebrations the Friday/Saturday before.  The girls wanted to go to the parade, but ended up not really enjoying it.  I forgot to bring water and they were both hot and thirsty.  They might have enjoyed it more if I'd had water.  I didn't particularly enjoy it, but the only parades I do are Disney Park parades.  THOSE, I like. :)  Ones that are nothing but advertisements for someone's store don't exactly do much for me.  It made me miss Disney World.

This is what I got when I asked her to smile.

I told them they could do a silly one if they smiled nice.

And here is the silly one.  I'm not sure what the thrill with the tongue is.

Here we were with Mom and Dad waiting for the parade to start.  Since we were on the sunny side of the street they'd all turned around while we waited.

THIS was a cool car.  It's even my favorite color.  Well, a version of my favorite color anyway. :)

This float was the only one I really liked.  It goes from the boat to the pioneers to the temple.  Way cool. :)

We spend most of the day at Cherry Hill.  All of us got fried.  I felt bad.  We had fun though.  Later that night the girls did some sparklers and pop-its.  We'd done a few fountains the night before.  It was dark though so my pictures from Saturday night turned out better. :)

Cute. :)

I LOVED this one of Little One.

Dropping Pop-its

Little One liked to step on them. :)

Sparklers!

Then no smile. *rolls eyes*

 Cheesy smile.

Mostly nice smile.  I'm persistent. 

She likes to conduct music. LOL

We've been having a fun summer all in all though.  I just sent Ira off on her first Girl's Camp this morning.  She's been VERY excited to go for weeks.  I really hope she has fun.  I worry about her.  I don't think she's inclined to be homesick, but I would hate to think she is.

Ah, Memories

A few days ago the girls came to me, asking if they could use Little One's sleeping bag to go down the stairs.  Sure.  Why not?  I remember doing the same thing with my brother when we were little.  It was hilarious watching them and even more fun listening to them laugh and laugh together.  They entertained themselves for a very long time doing this.  After the second day of it though, I noticed that her sleeping bag was getting very worn so we had to put an end to the fun before she didn't HAVE a sleeping bag anymore.

Little One Down Stairs

Ira Down Stairs

We've been gearing up for Ira's first 4th of July holiday.  The awesome thing here in Utah is that there are fireworks for days so we get to see lots.  Yesterday us girls all painted our finger/toe nails so we're all pretty.  We also watched 1776.  I love the music in it, but the film itself leaves a little to be desired.  The girls weren't too into it. LOL  I'll have to take them to a play of it.  That's a much better way to go about it, in my opinion.

Pretty sunset Ira took a picture of the other night.

Ira got to chat with her godmother a couple of times this week.  The second time was especially awesome because she'd brought Kristina to her house so the girls could talk.  It was SO good to see her again!  I think Ira was getting a little too much of the "annoying little sister" attitude toward Little One that she'd had in Ukraine though.  If I could have truly understood what was being said and been able to communicate back myself, I would have had Ira tell her that they are getting along much better now.  Alas.  It was really cool listening to Ira try and interpret though.  I would tell her something and she'd put it into Russian, or Kristina (or one of the other people there) would want her to ask/tell me something so she'd try.  It was awesome!  She's still got a long way to go, but she is doing amazing considering we've only been here 3 months.

Skyping with Kristina

The other news we heard was that the orphanage is closing in September.  That breaks my heart.  I want so much to go get every one of those kids and bring them over here.  Who knows what will happen to them all.  Some will probably end up in foster care, other scattered to other orphanages.  Darn.  I wish there was something I could do.