This is going to be a rather long post tonight. I’m sorry I have gotten behind, but I have been quite busy and I have so much to tell. I need to go back a bit in time and brag about my darling daughter, Sarah. If I didn’t mention it before Sarah had quite a good day at awards day at OCS this year. Sarah received an award for Principal’s Club which means all “A’s” for the year. Then OCS awards another award that is voted on by the students of the classes. Sarah tied for “Most Christ Like” with a friend of hers in her class this year. I have to say I was so proud of her. I knew she was a sweet girl and very special, but this is a special award for children that behave in Christ like ways. Her friend Shaylynn (probably didn’t spell that right) also tied with her. I’m so happy for her. In the other third grade glasses two of her friends won, Abby Barker and Anna Gober, all darling girls. I will post a picture of awards day for Sarah.
Then I must say that the sweet, shy quiet girl that we adopted from Petro is gone. That’s right. We have now found the true Almira. She is a prankster, a drama queen, rambunctious, completely out of control at times and just so much fun. She is no longer shy around us at all. She sings all the time, in Russian of course. It almost sounds like the song we know here, like “Enny, Meeny, Miney, Moe, catch a tiger by the toe”. It must be some kid song in Russian. She sings quite loudly and is teaching Sarah more and more Russian. They also do a “Patty Cake song”, in Russian, very loudly and usually in the backseat of the vehicle.
Almira has been having a wonderful time here in Monroe. Last Tuesday, Mom, Sarah, Almira and myself headed up to Lake D’Arbonne and visited Pawpaw at the camp. My parents have a lake house on the lake about 45 minutes from home. Almira got so excited when we rounded the curve and saw the lake ahead of her. We got out of the car and the girls headed out the back door to run down to the dock. Daddy was just coming in from checking his trot line and was ready to see his granddaughters. Daddy showed Almira some fish that he had caught and she just screamed with excitement. She kept making a motion like a fishing pole to him and he said yes, I caught those. We hung around at the camp for a little while and then I decided to take the girls to the state park. The state park up there has a beautiful swimming pool.
The girls got in their suits and we headed over. It was already hot and the pool was perfect. Almira was bit nervous at first, but soon couldn’t take sitting on the sidelines any more. I really think she was shy about anyone seeing her in her swimsuit the first time. Even though her suit has a skirt, she is still pretty modest. She came and joined Sarah and I in the pool. Once she got in the water, she just loved it. Before long she was going under and I was showing her how to make the strokes in the water. We stayed in the pool for about an hour and then headed back to the camp. After lunch, it was so hot that the girls watched a movie and then I took a nap. The jet lag was tough this time. About 3:00 we got up and went for a boat ride with Pawpaw. Almira just squealed and screamed she had so much fun. At one point we were going really fast and she just stood up. It scared me to death. In some ways she is like a small child and does not realize dangers.
We ended up going to a quiet part of the lake and Daddy let her and Sarah drive the boat. I think Almira really liked driving. A boat is much easier than a car and there was nothing to run into and no foot pedals. We went back to the camp and enjoyed a big fruit snack. Almira loves any kind of fruit and thankfully so do we. She, Sarah and I had strawberries and cherries. A little bit later we headed home to meet Jon.
On Wednesday we went to Target for the first time. I bought Almira some software that was for about 1st grade, but it was all phonics and reading comprehension. She and Sarah sat and worked on it most of the afternoon. Sarah told me that Almira finished the whole game. Almira can spell and read in English, but the trick is identifying the words and matching them to an object. Like she could read axe, but she didn’t know what an axe was. Things like this. I suppose the only way to learn this is just by exposure and reading books to her and introducing her to more and more things.
I am quite surprised by how fast she is beginning to say complete English sentences. She has been home 10 days today and is speaking complete sentences in English and they make sense. It probably doesn’t hurt any that Sarah talks her ear off.
Wednesday night we ventured out and went bowling with the youth from church. I thought it would be a relaxing environment and a chance to meet some of the kids from church. At first Almira was very uncomfortable and actually said “Too many people” when she came in the door. Once she met a few girls and started bowling she was alright. Almira actually turned out to be quite a good bowler. I couldn’t believe it was her first time. She bowled several strikes and then a few pick ups where she got all the pins. We then went and had pizza for the first time. We met some friends and had dinner with them. I don’t think pizza was a big hit for Almira. She is not a big fan of cheese. This may be the problem.
We didn’t do much this weekend, but did venture out and go to church on Sunday morning. Because of the decorations for Vacation Bible school, we had Sunday school in the auditorium. Almira and Sarah came into the 9:45 service with us and I’m sure she was quite confused. First off that is our contemporary service, the rock and roll service as I call it. She was probably wondering why a rock band was jamming on the stage of a church. I know she couldn’t understand the words, but it was all Christ centered, trust me.
Then after church we went home to make sandwiches and Almira spotted Sarah’s bike which had just come back from the shop. Even though it was already 90 degrees, Almira wanted to learn to ride. She tried on the driveway a few times, but didn’t have much luck. I was worried about her falling and worse about her running out in the road in front of a car. So we loaded up my bike and Sarah’s bike in the back of the truck and headed to the spot where we taught Sarah to ride. There is a large grassy spot behind the levee that is dry when the river is down. It is about 2 football fields and the grass is very short or worn from tire tracks. It is a great place to learn to ride. If you fall you won’t get hurt. We worked on it for about 30 minutes. Almira was exhausted and dripping with sweat. We headed home with her only making it a few feet of actual riding.
Then we headed to the Little Theater for the afternoon. A friend of mine had called and offered us tickets to go see Beauty and the Beast, which was put on by the Young Troop, which was just about all teenagers. The girls just loved it. Even though Almira couldn’t understand much of the words, I know she could follow the story. The kids did a great job. Thanks again, Nancy.
The girls headed out to the pool late in the afternoon and we had a lazy rest of the day. Our pool is looking better, but is still a bit green. We have had a time getting it cleaned up since the cover partially came off during our first trip to Kaz in April. Jon has been in and it has enough chemicals and was a nice blue. But by the time he got in a vacuumed it out, the green had come back some what. The girls didn’t notice at all. Almira had been going out every day and looking at the pool and telling Jon, “Swim, swim, please.”
Jon grilled burgers for everyone and we just hung out for the evening. My friend Beth came over and visited for a while. I notice when other people are around, Almira gets quiet again and stays back in her room or in the back of the house with Sarah. I hope one day she can relax and just be herself around everyone.
This morning was the beginning of vacation Bible school. I signed up to work with 6th grade so I could be with the oldest kids. They are closer to Almira’s age than any other group. I know she had to be uncomfortable at first, but she warmed up some. It was tough in the Bible study classes and in some of the games, because I couldn’t translate things for her. She did have a good time during recreation which was like a tag game. I could explain to her how that worked. Of course she did well, she runs like the wind.
Tomorrow is wear your team jersey day and so tonight we went and bought the girls some pink LSU T-shirts for them. We went ahead and got a couple of pink hats, because Thursday is hat day. Alabama GiGi, I know you would be proud of us.
Another first today is we all went to the dentist. It was time for mine and Sarah’s 6 month check ups. This was Almira’s first dentist visit from what I could tell. Not much good news there. She had at least 7 cavities. At least most of them are smaller and can be fixed with a laser, but one or two are going to need drilling. We are going to start with smaller ones and then go back later for the larger ones, when I can explain better to her. As soon as we got in the door from the dentist both girls said “Swimming!”. So out the door they headed. They stayed in the pool for almost 2 hours.
I cooked supper and introduced her to tacos tonight, which I think she really enjoyed. She had those with her regular favorite, potato salad, which I will be making every weekend from now on. I need to make enough to last for a week, Almira just loves it. As soon as she got done eating she said something to me in Russian and then left the table. After a couple of minutes I asked Jon if he knew where she was and he thought she went to the back of the house. I got worried and went and looked and she had gone outside to try and ride Sarah’s bike again. At least she stays in the driveway, which has two sides and makes a half circle. I went outside with her and she wanted me to get on my bike. After a few more minutes she had it. We rode down the street together, with her still stopping every few feet. But after about 30 minutes she had it down. I told her now that she can ride, we will buy her a bike of her own. She was so excited. She rides her bike, speaking constantly in Russian and screams from time to time. I got some great pictures.
So things are going well here, just enjoying having Almira home and all the new fun stuff that comes with it. Sarah has been great and a real trooper. She and Almira seem to get along great and have so much fun together. I had to get on to them tonight for giggling after 9:30. We have to get up early in the morning for VBS.
Tomorrow should be another fun day and we will spend the afternoon at the eye doctor. Both girls need eye exams. Sarah’s vision has always been perfect, but it’s been almost 5 years since she had a check up. Almira is blind as a bat at a distance. I’m surprised she can see the T.V. from the couch. At the eye exam in Almaty the doctors kept shaking their heads and moving up lines, until they were to the very top. I know she needs glasses, but does not like to wear them. I told her we will get her pretty glasses, but she must wear them. We worked on the ABCs last week, so I know she knows those now.
So I hope I have everyone out there all caught up and I apologize for the delays in posting. I have now downloaded a few pictures, but need the cable for my Mom’s camera, which I left at her house. I will post more pictures later.
I never know what order the pictures will be in when I post, but I had to tell you about one I took tonight. Those are 2 exhausted girls after an entire afternoon of playing, swimming and bike riding. Sarah was already in her pajamas, and Almira was about to get hers on. Almira collapsed on the couch and Sarah took full advantage to give her big sister a hug. Enjoy
