Just a few more. Check out the hat that Almira and Memmie made. These others are Almira at the camp. She is showing off her proud catch. For those not from the south, that is a catfish she is holding. They are yum yum! She loves them now.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
A few more pictures ...
Just a few more. Check out the hat that Almira and Memmie made. These others are Almira at the camp. She is showing off her proud catch. For those not from the south, that is a catfish she is holding. They are yum yum! She loves them now.
Pictures from June and July
Just a few of the girls. Almira at the zoo in New Orleans. Sarah, Almira and I on the back deck of the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, MS, overlooking the ocean. Sarah and Almira in a gift shop in New Orleans hugging a bear. Also, Sarah and Almira in a carriage on the grounds of the Houmas House.
All is well here in Monroe
Sorry to everyone that I have not posted in so long. I went back to work 3 weeks ago and also back to school too. I am taking Finance 476, a Sr. Financial Management class and it is keeping me pretty busy. I'm also trying to take a Biology correspondence course through LSU. I only have 6 classes left to graduate, but I have these 6 science credits hanging over my head. I'm trying to find a way to get through these before next May when I should graduate. Yikes, I love finance and hate science.
Anyway, on to the subject that everyone is really interested in, Almira. She is just doing wonderfully. As I type this she is at the lake fishing with her Pawpaw. She went up to the camp with Mom and Dad yesterday afternoon and spent the night. She just loves it and really loves fishing. I can't believe how much she loves to fish. I called to check on her this morning and she told me that she woke Almira up at 6:15 this morning and she went out fishing with my Dad. I couldn't believe she got up that early, but Mom said she was so excited to go fishing, it didn't seem to bother her.
Almira is doing so well on her English. She is speaking almost all English now and is making full and complete sentences. We still have a way to go on her social skills. She is fine around adults, but is so intimidated around other children. We really have to work on that as school starts in less than a month.
I do have some new pictures to post. I finally got them all downloaded off Mom's camera from our trip down south last month. There may even be a few more. Just wanted everyone to know that all is well. The girls are still having a blast together. Oh, I almost forgot. Our family has really been growing. Sarah got 2 hermit crabs a few weeks ago and the next day Almira got a little hamster. She had been wanting a pet of her own so badly and I couldn't add anymore cats or dogs, since we already had 2 cats and 1 dog. I told her she could keep her hamster in her room and take care of her. She is just loving having her. She is a robo hamster and so she is just tiny.
Almira has also been sewing a lot. Last weekend we went baby doll shopping. That's all she could talk about, that she wanted a baby doll. So we went and spent over an hour with her looking and comparing until she finally found the one she wanted. This week she started sewing her clothes. She hand sewed her a full outfit, shirt, pants, booties and a bonnet. I could not believe how well she did. Mom is just blown away at how well she can sew. She is already working on sewing her another outfit.
I will try and do better on posting and will get some pictures to you now.
Thanks,
Kathy B.
Anyway, on to the subject that everyone is really interested in, Almira. She is just doing wonderfully. As I type this she is at the lake fishing with her Pawpaw. She went up to the camp with Mom and Dad yesterday afternoon and spent the night. She just loves it and really loves fishing. I can't believe how much she loves to fish. I called to check on her this morning and she told me that she woke Almira up at 6:15 this morning and she went out fishing with my Dad. I couldn't believe she got up that early, but Mom said she was so excited to go fishing, it didn't seem to bother her.
Almira is doing so well on her English. She is speaking almost all English now and is making full and complete sentences. We still have a way to go on her social skills. She is fine around adults, but is so intimidated around other children. We really have to work on that as school starts in less than a month.
I do have some new pictures to post. I finally got them all downloaded off Mom's camera from our trip down south last month. There may even be a few more. Just wanted everyone to know that all is well. The girls are still having a blast together. Oh, I almost forgot. Our family has really been growing. Sarah got 2 hermit crabs a few weeks ago and the next day Almira got a little hamster. She had been wanting a pet of her own so badly and I couldn't add anymore cats or dogs, since we already had 2 cats and 1 dog. I told her she could keep her hamster in her room and take care of her. She is just loving having her. She is a robo hamster and so she is just tiny.
Almira has also been sewing a lot. Last weekend we went baby doll shopping. That's all she could talk about, that she wanted a baby doll. So we went and spent over an hour with her looking and comparing until she finally found the one she wanted. This week she started sewing her clothes. She hand sewed her a full outfit, shirt, pants, booties and a bonnet. I could not believe how well she did. Mom is just blown away at how well she can sew. She is already working on sewing her another outfit.
I will try and do better on posting and will get some pictures to you now.
Thanks,
Kathy B.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Places to go and people to see ...
The pictures are of the famous Houmas House and also the bend in the Mississippi River in Natchez (taken by Almira). The girls are sitting on one of the limbs that lays on the grounds of the Houmas House. Those trees are just unbelievably beautiful. Almira was washing her feet in one of the waterfalls on the grounds after her swan and fire ants incident. I'll post more pictures from Mom's camera.
Sorry it has been so long since I’ve updated. We have been busy this last 2 weeks. Almira has been busy working on her English lessons and her ESL. We took a break last week and headed down to Baton Rouge on Thursday and then on to New Orleans on Friday. Mom and I headed down with Sarah and Almira and Jon drove down to meet us after work on Friday night.
We drove across the Mississippi River and into downtown Natchez. We stopped at the overlook over the river to let the girls see some of the big antebellum homes and the river. We took the girls on a tour of Stanton Hall, one of the most beautiful white column houses. We then had lunch at the Carriage House restaurant on the grounds of Stanton Hall. After lunch we drove down through St. Francisville, just north of Baton Rouge. We stopped at the Myrtles, which is supposed to be the most haunted house in America. We were going to take a tour, but would have had to wait about 45 minutes. We decided to head on down to Baton Rouge and visit the State Capital. The State Capital was beautiful and we sat in on a session of the House of Representatives and the state senate.
We spent the night in Gonzales, which is just out of Baton Rouge on the way to New Orleans. The girls swam that evening and then we had dinner. The next morning we got up and headed towards New Orleans. We stopped at the Houmas House, which is truly one of the grandest houses in the south. We did not tour the house, because it was $20.00 a person to tour, but we could tour the gardens for $10.00 each. The gardens were just beautiful and there were swans on the grounds and walking paths. There were also 300 + year old live oak trees on the grounds.
We drove across the Mississippi River and into downtown Natchez. We stopped at the overlook over the river to let the girls see some of the big antebellum homes and the river. We took the girls on a tour of Stanton Hall, one of the most beautiful white column houses. We then had lunch at the Carriage House restaurant on the grounds of Stanton Hall. After lunch we drove down through St. Francisville, just north of Baton Rouge. We stopped at the Myrtles, which is supposed to be the most haunted house in America. We were going to take a tour, but would have had to wait about 45 minutes. We decided to head on down to Baton Rouge and visit the State Capital. The State Capital was beautiful and we sat in on a session of the House of Representatives and the state senate.
We spent the night in Gonzales, which is just out of Baton Rouge on the way to New Orleans. The girls swam that evening and then we had dinner. The next morning we got up and headed towards New Orleans. We stopped at the Houmas House, which is truly one of the grandest houses in the south. We did not tour the house, because it was $20.00 a person to tour, but we could tour the gardens for $10.00 each. The gardens were just beautiful and there were swans on the grounds and walking paths. There were also 300 + year old live oak trees on the grounds.
One of the funniest things that happened, but also was scary, Almira was taking lots of pictures of the swans and their babies on the front yard at the Houmas House. I was standing close to Sarah about 100 yards from her. She had on her crocs and all of a sudden I heard her scream "Mama, mama!" She was running across the lawn as fast as she could kicking off her shoes. I knew right away what had happened, she had stepped in a bed of fireants. I started towards her as she ran to me. I checked her feet and went to gather up her shoes she had run out of. While we were walking to a fountain to put her feet in, she stepped in a pile of swam poop. After I knew she was okay, we had quite a laugh. But I have to say it also made me feel good that she cried for Mama and ran for me as fast as she could.
We headed on down to New Orleans and went to the zoo. We had a good time at the zoo and Almira was so excited to see the Louisiana part. They had a lot of alligators and one big grand daddy alligator that was just huge, probably about 10 feet long. Then we went inside and saw the white alligator. We stayed at the Riverside Hilton which is very close to the Aquarium of the Americas.
On Saturday morning we rode across the bridge and went to see the New Orleans operations of Bradford Lumber. Then we headed into the French Quarter headed to the Café DuMonde’. There was such a long line outside and looking like rain that we found another breakfast place. Then we set out on a long walk to the aquarium. I thought it was about 2 blocks, but it turned into a 30 minute walk and we got caught in the rain. Jon had driven his truck down to park it and wait for us at the aquarium and waited on us quite awhile. Once we made it to the aquarium we were pretty wet, but ready to see all the fish, birds and other good stuff. Almira reminded me of an excited 5 or 6 year old. She was running from one thing to another. She had my Mom’s digital camera with her. I think by the end of the weekend she had taken about 400 pictures.
We then headed to the shopping at the bottom of the Riverwalk connected to the Hilton. Jon and Mom went back to the hotel rooms to rest, but Sarah, Almira and I hit the mall for shopping. I bought the girls cute skirts and tops for dinner that night with Jon. We drove over to Biloxi that night to see the devastation and to have dinner.
Biloxi was so depressing. The grand houses that sat along the beach were all gone. There was nothing but slabs left. So many of the restaurants where we had eaten in the past were gone. The little theme park where Jon and Sarah had been before was gone. It was just so surprising to see the Mississippi coast still in such bad shape. The Beau Rivage had been re-done and looked great and there were some new condos there, but very few restaurants.
We headed home Sunday and Almira rode home with Mom and I and Sarah rode with Jon. Almira rode with us and worked on her English coming home. She was really using a lot of English and Mom was surprised at how much she could communicate.
For the 4th of July we headed up to Lake D’Arbonne with my family and spent the day cooking out, having homemade ice cream and took the kids out in the boat. After lunch Almira kept asking if she could go fishing. Dad took her down to the boat dock and she ended up catching some fish. We were run in by a storm, but as soon as the heavy rain stopped Almira started asking if we could go back and fish. She suggested that we all put on rain coats. She was so funny. I didn’t think she would get hooked on fishing so fast.
We headed on down to New Orleans and went to the zoo. We had a good time at the zoo and Almira was so excited to see the Louisiana part. They had a lot of alligators and one big grand daddy alligator that was just huge, probably about 10 feet long. Then we went inside and saw the white alligator. We stayed at the Riverside Hilton which is very close to the Aquarium of the Americas.
On Saturday morning we rode across the bridge and went to see the New Orleans operations of Bradford Lumber. Then we headed into the French Quarter headed to the Café DuMonde’. There was such a long line outside and looking like rain that we found another breakfast place. Then we set out on a long walk to the aquarium. I thought it was about 2 blocks, but it turned into a 30 minute walk and we got caught in the rain. Jon had driven his truck down to park it and wait for us at the aquarium and waited on us quite awhile. Once we made it to the aquarium we were pretty wet, but ready to see all the fish, birds and other good stuff. Almira reminded me of an excited 5 or 6 year old. She was running from one thing to another. She had my Mom’s digital camera with her. I think by the end of the weekend she had taken about 400 pictures.
We then headed to the shopping at the bottom of the Riverwalk connected to the Hilton. Jon and Mom went back to the hotel rooms to rest, but Sarah, Almira and I hit the mall for shopping. I bought the girls cute skirts and tops for dinner that night with Jon. We drove over to Biloxi that night to see the devastation and to have dinner.
Biloxi was so depressing. The grand houses that sat along the beach were all gone. There was nothing but slabs left. So many of the restaurants where we had eaten in the past were gone. The little theme park where Jon and Sarah had been before was gone. It was just so surprising to see the Mississippi coast still in such bad shape. The Beau Rivage had been re-done and looked great and there were some new condos there, but very few restaurants.
We headed home Sunday and Almira rode home with Mom and I and Sarah rode with Jon. Almira rode with us and worked on her English coming home. She was really using a lot of English and Mom was surprised at how much she could communicate.
For the 4th of July we headed up to Lake D’Arbonne with my family and spent the day cooking out, having homemade ice cream and took the kids out in the boat. After lunch Almira kept asking if she could go fishing. Dad took her down to the boat dock and she ended up catching some fish. We were run in by a storm, but as soon as the heavy rain stopped Almira started asking if we could go back and fish. She suggested that we all put on rain coats. She was so funny. I didn’t think she would get hooked on fishing so fast.
In the boat Almira had another scare with a spider and insisted on sitting in my lap on the boat the entire ride. I am suprised at times how she still seems like such a little girl. Sometimes she will just come sit by me and lean over on me or just touch me. I have to remind myself that even though she is a big girl, she missed so much of what our kids have experienced since birth, lots of touching and loving.
We took a lot of pictures, but I will need to get them off Mom’s camera. I will post a few that I took of the girls and some of the places we went with my camera.
I will be going back to work next week, so many I can post some more pictures later.
Till later,
K
We took a lot of pictures, but I will need to get them off Mom’s camera. I will post a few that I took of the girls and some of the places we went with my camera.
I will be going back to work next week, so many I can post some more pictures later.
Till later,
K
Thursday, June 21, 2007
A wonderful find today ...
I found the most wonderful website today. You can type in a phrase in Russian or English and it will instantly translate it to whatever language you want. So neat.
Here it is. http://imtranslator.com/
Almira has been typing me paragraphs tonight. She just finished telling me about a book that I bought for her. She told me the story line and that she liked the book. This is such a wonderful tool.
It also has a dictionary where you can look up words in English and have them give her the Russian definitions. Awesome. We could spend hours on this site. It began a conversation about some common English phrases and how to use certain words.
Hope everyone enjoys it. We have been bike riding again this afternoon. Also, we had a parents' lunch at the college for the girls camp. Almira and another girl did puppets behind a curtain and Almira actually said several lines in English, full sentences. I just couldn't believe she did so well. We are just so proud of her, she is just a wonderful girl. We got a few things cleared up yesterday when Svetlana was here and could translate for us. Tomorrow the girls are going to go on a field trip to Shreveport, to a couple of art museums, one formal and one fun for kids. She is reading a book that I bought her from a company called Multi language. Our church uses it to get their supplies for Ukraine mission trips. http://www.multilanguage.com/
I ordered Almira her first Bible in Russian and a couple of books. I found one about a boy that his homeless and how his life is changed by being taken in by a Christian family. She said she likes it alot and wants to order some more books from this company. I told her we definitely would order some more.
Maybe some one out there can use either one of these links. I wish I could find a way to order some more of her books that I bought before we left Kaz. There is a red headed girl on the cover and she said it is like a girl Harry Potter. I bought her 3 before we left coming home, but I bet she has read them all now. Please let me know if there is anywhere to order Russian popular books on-line.
Thanks, Kathy
Here it is. http://imtranslator.com/
Almira has been typing me paragraphs tonight. She just finished telling me about a book that I bought for her. She told me the story line and that she liked the book. This is such a wonderful tool.
It also has a dictionary where you can look up words in English and have them give her the Russian definitions. Awesome. We could spend hours on this site. It began a conversation about some common English phrases and how to use certain words.
Hope everyone enjoys it. We have been bike riding again this afternoon. Also, we had a parents' lunch at the college for the girls camp. Almira and another girl did puppets behind a curtain and Almira actually said several lines in English, full sentences. I just couldn't believe she did so well. We are just so proud of her, she is just a wonderful girl. We got a few things cleared up yesterday when Svetlana was here and could translate for us. Tomorrow the girls are going to go on a field trip to Shreveport, to a couple of art museums, one formal and one fun for kids. She is reading a book that I bought her from a company called Multi language. Our church uses it to get their supplies for Ukraine mission trips. http://www.multilanguage.com/
I ordered Almira her first Bible in Russian and a couple of books. I found one about a boy that his homeless and how his life is changed by being taken in by a Christian family. She said she likes it alot and wants to order some more books from this company. I told her we definitely would order some more.
Maybe some one out there can use either one of these links. I wish I could find a way to order some more of her books that I bought before we left Kaz. There is a red headed girl on the cover and she said it is like a girl Harry Potter. I bought her 3 before we left coming home, but I bet she has read them all now. Please let me know if there is anywhere to order Russian popular books on-line.
Thanks, Kathy
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Making progress...
Hello all,
Pictures - Almira on her new bike. She's doing great riding. I just had to add this picture of Salem. Sarah had a cat toy and Almira had the camera. Almira was so proud that she caught Salem in mid-leap. She just loves these cats and is always hugging them and speaking Russian to them. I'll have to post a photo of Snowball now. Almira has been running around taking cat pictures every day. This is Snowball in the back yard laying next to Sarahs' bed of sunflowers we planted just days before going to Kazakhstan to pick up Almira.
Sorry for not keeping everyone up to date. We have been so busy. Last Thursday we met with Svetlana, a nice lady that lives here and is Russian. Her husband works here at CenturyTel in the computer information department. We met last Thursday morning for about 2 1/2 hours. She has a book on English with a CD for Almira to listen to. We sat at a coffee shop and they worked on the first 2 lessons. Then we just talked and discussed things for the next hour or so. It was wonderful that they met and good for Almira. Almira had a lot she needed to tell me and I was able to tell her some things as well. Svetlana came to the U.S. from Russian when she was 19 years old and gave me a lot of insight on her experiences coming to America and how she felt. She said she was fluent in English and felt very prepared for starting college in America, but it was extremely overwhelming for her. She also told me that she did not have the support structure around her that Almira does. Almira told her that she is happiest when it is just the 4 of us and we are staying home or riding in Jon's truck laughing and talking.
Thursday night I wasn't sure what to cook for supper and Jon said he would pick up some steaks and I would cook some baked potatoes and make a salad for supper. Almira loves steak! She is hooked.
We did Vacation Bible school last week and it was just a bit too much for her. So, I told her she did not have to go on Friday morning and could stay with my Mom and Dad. I had to go and finish up my volunteer project with the 6th grade. Friday afternoon I met up with a friend of a friend that is an ESL teacher with our city school system. We met at the high school that afternoon and she spent about an hour with Almira working on the computer doing ESL exercises. Almira did very well and scored 95 % on the pretest and then continued to do well and went through many levels, all the way up to conversation level. Kathy is her name and she told me that she believes Almira knows a lot of English, but is just not using it yet. She knows the name of alot of items in English too. Almira really seemed to like doing the ESL on the computer and I think it helped that it gave her a score instantly and she saw how well she was doing. I hope we can go back this week.
On Saturday morning we headed over to Shreveport, which is about 2 hours away from here. We went to an art museum that I had heard alot of good things about, then on to Sci-port. Sarah has always loved Sci-port and it is a children's science museum. At first Almira seemed kind of bored, but then they girls found some fun things to do. We went to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Superiors and she wanted steak. I ordered her a small lunch steak and she said it was okay, but not as good as Daddy's. We then took the girls to Bass Pro Shop and then walking at the outdoor shopping. We took the girls to Build-a-Bear Workshop and Sarah and I helped Almira make her first animal. She picked a pink teddy bear and asked me to record the sound for her. She then picked out clothes, shoes and accessories for her bear. She and Sarah had a blast. When it came time to make the birth certificate on the computer, I checked the menu under languages and was shocked to see that there was a choice for Russian. So Almira was able to go through the birth certificate for her bear in Russian. She named her bear Katya after her best friend still in Kazakhstan.
Almira was adamant that she wanted to come home Saturday night and not stay at a hotel. I had the girls pack a little bag with a swimsuit just in case we decided to stay. I'm not sure what the deal is with a hotel, other than she is just so comfortable in our house, where everything is familiar to her. Besides the hotel in Almaty was not that nice or that much fun. She and Sarah took turns sleeping on a roll away bed. Sarah told her that she didn't know yet how nice American hotels are with swimming pools.
We stayed home from church Sunday since I know she was overwhelmed with everything. On Monday the girls went to a camp at the college. Sarah went last year and had so much fun. It is called TAG camp and is for gifted and talented children. They agreed to take Almira even though I didn't have any school records for her. The first day Almira came home and said she didn't like it because it was in English and boring. I told her I was sorry but that I had to work some this week and she would just have to go. This started our first real unhappiness from her. She stayed in her room most of the afternoon and refused to speak any English to me when I would go check on her. I also took her to get her glasses Monday afternoon, but she is refusing to wear them. I can understand her not wanting to wear glasses all the time, but I was shocked with just how bad her vision is. She tested at about 20/100, with 20/20 being perfect vision. Jon said her eyes are as bad as his and he can't see the TV from the couch without his glasses. He is suprised she can even see to ride her bike without them on. This is one battle I'm going to have to deal with in Russian, from someone other than me.
By bedtime Monday evening she seemed to be alright and on Tuesday morning I didn't hear anything else about not liking camp. In fact when I went to get the girls on Tuesday afternoon, they were outside with disposable cameras snapping pictures for a project on Wednesday. The camp counselors said she is doing really well and seems to be having fun. This is a very small camp with only 8 kids and then she and Sarah, so 10 total. They get lots of hands-on personal time. They said she has not had any problem doing the projects and can follow instructions.
So I'm working this week just until 3 every afternoon so I can go get the girls. Svetlana is supposed to be coming to the house this afternoon at 5:00 for another English lesson with Almira. I think these are really good for her, not only is she speaking more English, but it also gives her someone to speak to in total Russian, without having to think about words so hard. I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes.
Sorry for not keeping everyone up to date. We have been so busy. Last Thursday we met with Svetlana, a nice lady that lives here and is Russian. Her husband works here at CenturyTel in the computer information department. We met last Thursday morning for about 2 1/2 hours. She has a book on English with a CD for Almira to listen to. We sat at a coffee shop and they worked on the first 2 lessons. Then we just talked and discussed things for the next hour or so. It was wonderful that they met and good for Almira. Almira had a lot she needed to tell me and I was able to tell her some things as well. Svetlana came to the U.S. from Russian when she was 19 years old and gave me a lot of insight on her experiences coming to America and how she felt. She said she was fluent in English and felt very prepared for starting college in America, but it was extremely overwhelming for her. She also told me that she did not have the support structure around her that Almira does. Almira told her that she is happiest when it is just the 4 of us and we are staying home or riding in Jon's truck laughing and talking.
Thursday night I wasn't sure what to cook for supper and Jon said he would pick up some steaks and I would cook some baked potatoes and make a salad for supper. Almira loves steak! She is hooked.
We did Vacation Bible school last week and it was just a bit too much for her. So, I told her she did not have to go on Friday morning and could stay with my Mom and Dad. I had to go and finish up my volunteer project with the 6th grade. Friday afternoon I met up with a friend of a friend that is an ESL teacher with our city school system. We met at the high school that afternoon and she spent about an hour with Almira working on the computer doing ESL exercises. Almira did very well and scored 95 % on the pretest and then continued to do well and went through many levels, all the way up to conversation level. Kathy is her name and she told me that she believes Almira knows a lot of English, but is just not using it yet. She knows the name of alot of items in English too. Almira really seemed to like doing the ESL on the computer and I think it helped that it gave her a score instantly and she saw how well she was doing. I hope we can go back this week.
On Saturday morning we headed over to Shreveport, which is about 2 hours away from here. We went to an art museum that I had heard alot of good things about, then on to Sci-port. Sarah has always loved Sci-port and it is a children's science museum. At first Almira seemed kind of bored, but then they girls found some fun things to do. We went to eat at one of our favorite restaurants, Superiors and she wanted steak. I ordered her a small lunch steak and she said it was okay, but not as good as Daddy's. We then took the girls to Bass Pro Shop and then walking at the outdoor shopping. We took the girls to Build-a-Bear Workshop and Sarah and I helped Almira make her first animal. She picked a pink teddy bear and asked me to record the sound for her. She then picked out clothes, shoes and accessories for her bear. She and Sarah had a blast. When it came time to make the birth certificate on the computer, I checked the menu under languages and was shocked to see that there was a choice for Russian. So Almira was able to go through the birth certificate for her bear in Russian. She named her bear Katya after her best friend still in Kazakhstan.
Almira was adamant that she wanted to come home Saturday night and not stay at a hotel. I had the girls pack a little bag with a swimsuit just in case we decided to stay. I'm not sure what the deal is with a hotel, other than she is just so comfortable in our house, where everything is familiar to her. Besides the hotel in Almaty was not that nice or that much fun. She and Sarah took turns sleeping on a roll away bed. Sarah told her that she didn't know yet how nice American hotels are with swimming pools.
We stayed home from church Sunday since I know she was overwhelmed with everything. On Monday the girls went to a camp at the college. Sarah went last year and had so much fun. It is called TAG camp and is for gifted and talented children. They agreed to take Almira even though I didn't have any school records for her. The first day Almira came home and said she didn't like it because it was in English and boring. I told her I was sorry but that I had to work some this week and she would just have to go. This started our first real unhappiness from her. She stayed in her room most of the afternoon and refused to speak any English to me when I would go check on her. I also took her to get her glasses Monday afternoon, but she is refusing to wear them. I can understand her not wanting to wear glasses all the time, but I was shocked with just how bad her vision is. She tested at about 20/100, with 20/20 being perfect vision. Jon said her eyes are as bad as his and he can't see the TV from the couch without his glasses. He is suprised she can even see to ride her bike without them on. This is one battle I'm going to have to deal with in Russian, from someone other than me.
By bedtime Monday evening she seemed to be alright and on Tuesday morning I didn't hear anything else about not liking camp. In fact when I went to get the girls on Tuesday afternoon, they were outside with disposable cameras snapping pictures for a project on Wednesday. The camp counselors said she is doing really well and seems to be having fun. This is a very small camp with only 8 kids and then she and Sarah, so 10 total. They get lots of hands-on personal time. They said she has not had any problem doing the projects and can follow instructions.
So I'm working this week just until 3 every afternoon so I can go get the girls. Svetlana is supposed to be coming to the house this afternoon at 5:00 for another English lesson with Almira. I think these are really good for her, not only is she speaking more English, but it also gives her someone to speak to in total Russian, without having to think about words so hard. I'll keep you posted and let you know how it goes.
I'm heading to bed now, but just added the new pictures. Svetlana spent 2 hours with Almira and said Almira is doing so well and is so bright. She also said she seems really happy.
Kathy
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
A few more pictures ...
I finally got my Mom's camera downloaded. Just a few pictures to enjoy! Almira learned how to ride a bike so we went and got her a new bike yesterday. Thank you Memaw Bradford and Aunt Diane for shopping money. It helped to buy a bike.
Most of these are pictures I took in the courtyard at the theater on Sunday afternoon. One picture is at the pizza place last week with my friend Beth's son, Payne.
We also went to the eye doctor and ordered Almira new glasses. I hope they will be ready in the next few days. I don't know how she can see a thing.
K
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