Fun Times With New Experiences

I love being able to experience things for the first time with Dima!  Last night our church had a Trunk-or-Treat so the children could walk around safely to receive candy from cars.  Dima was so excited to get dressed up in his Scream costume.  He had a fun time receiving candy.  Unfortunately, he couldn't stay long as he had homework to finish.  He was a good sport and didn't make a fuss about leaving.  He worked hard on his homework considering he was on a sugar high!

Last night we actually had some extra time before his Math tutor came over to carve some pumpkins.  I didn't know if he would want to do it, but was surprised at how excited he got when I brought the pumpkins in from outside.  I didn't say anything and he asked "Are we going to carve the pumpkins???".  I loved the look on his face when I said yes!! 

We had a blast drawing and carving out the faces.  I forgot how dangerous carving pumpkins can be, I was just praying one of us didn't end up in the ER needing stitches! When we were preparing the pumpkins, we saved the seeds so we could roast them later.  He asked if we could watch a scary movie and eat the seeds tomorrow.  He is bound and determined to watch a scary movie, I on the other hand get freaked out watching them.  I will try to talk him into watching one that is not too scary! 

We sat the pumpkins outside and put candles in them for Trick-or-Treat night.  We never get kids to come by our neighborhood because there aren't many kids that live on our road, but at least it looked cool! 

Saturday is Dima's last cross country meet.  Sounds like we may get some snow so it will be interesting!  Dima actually said to me that he is looking forward to having a break and more time for homework.  He is so burnt out from having no time to relax during the school week.  I am so proud of him pushing through his homework the last few months when I know he was exhausted after concentrating in school and then cross country practice.  I couldn't imagine going to another country and having to learn the language AND trying to keep up with the other students in class!

Thanks for reading!
Tina

Patience

I feel like a broken record when I take a deep breath in and say to myself to be patient.  Last few days feels like every breath in I am saying this! I feel it is important to blog not only about the good times, but the not so good times.  I have heard that adoption is not easy, but I am sure being a parent in general is not always easy.  We felt we were called to adopt Dima and will continue to follow what God directs us to do.  We understood that this would not be easy and feel that our marriage was able to handle the good and bad times.  I am so thankful for the bond my husband and I share as I couldn't imagine going through this without it.

We are extremely blessed to have adopted such a special boy.  He is smart, caring and so much fun to be around.  That is why we get so frustrated when we see a small part of him showing lack of respect and putting up a wall when things do not go his way.  This has been a constant battle for all of us and has been very stressful at times.  We are thankful for most of the days where this attitude does not come out.  We understand it could be a lot worse and are extremely thankful for this.  We pray that this attitude will happen less and less and for the time being God shows us the way and patience.

I can only imagine what is going through his mind.  After 14 years living in a certain environment where you only had your friends to support you and no parents to help guide you.  You always had to rely on only yourself.  I am sure it is hard for him now to allow us and others to help him.  He fights any help from others.  My only guess is that he may see it as a weakness, when we see it as a way to give someone help that has so much potential!  Ukrainians typically do not show their emotions and are very independent.  That is hard for us to understand and break down this wall around him that has been there for so long.

All we can do is pray for guidence and patience.  Thanks for reading.

Latest Post

I have no idea where the time has gone since the last blog? This last month has been extremely busy with school and cross country.  Cross country will be coming to an end soon as I think Dima is ready for a little break.  Homework takes up all of our evening time and I think he is getting burnt out a little.  One evening he said all I do is go to school, go to practice, eat and do homework until bed!  Eventhough he has been tired, he has been a real trooper and trying his best to do all his work.  Some things he wants to finish like all the other students, however, there are still things that are too challenging for him to complete.  Other students can get most of their work finished in class where he will do what he can and bring the rest home for us to help him.  We are so thankful he has come to trust us helping him as last year it was a struggle at times.  This is also a great way for us to see what he can and cannot do.

Last night was Parent-Teacher Conferences as we had the opportunity to see how he is doing in class.  We are so blessed that he has such caring and helpful teachers.  Since Dima is so quiet and shy, they all had a hard time finding out what he could and could not do.  They all say he is slowly opening up which have helped to learn more about him.  For the most part, the teachers say he has been respectful, however, a few times he has shown his attitude when he doesn't understand something or it was discovered that he didn't complete work.  Luckily, that attitude is starting to diminish with him being able to understand more.  For 14 years that was his way of dealing with problems, so it's not going to go away in a flash.  Now that the teachers have a better understanding of him, I think that attitude will slowly go away. He is even starting to open up to his ESL teacher, finally!!! We have been trying to explain how important she is to him and how she can help him.

The other day Dusty and I were looking through some old pictures and were quickly reminded how far Dima has come in just 10 months!!  This time last year Dima was waiting for us to come adopt him, now he has such a completely different life now.  Before he didn't care about school, now he starts on his homework without us asking him to do it. Looking through his old pictures, we saw a child with no smile or hope, now all he does is smile!!

This was the first time we saw Dima in Ukraine since the summer hosting program.

This is the smile we LOVE to see!!! This is after he received his Citizenship Certification.  In his mind, he was finally an American and had the certificate to prove it.

School, Cross Country and Citizenship Oath!!

What a month!  September began with Dima starting school and cross country season.  What a difference in Dima this year with school!  Every time someone would ask him if he was ready for school, he said no.  I think he was more ready than he thought.  The first week of school Dima would come home from cross country practice and start on his homework!!  I remember last year we had to remind him to get his homework out most of the times.  He has all Academic classes along with his one period of English. It is going to be a challenging year, but I think he is ready for it. Dima has been amazing as he is trying his best to do all the work himself.  Obviously since he's only known English for about 9 months, he needs a lot of help.  We have been spending at least 1-2 1/2 hours on homework every night.  He has been a trooper as we are the ones, not Dima, who are exhausted after homework.  He has been even going to school early some days so he doesn't get behind in his Algebra and Computer classes.  We are extremely proud of him and his efforts. 

Dima on his first day of school.  He wouldn't let me take pictures so I had to surprise him.....that should explain the look on his face.

With all that being said, he still struggles with his ESL class.  So frustrating as the teacher is an absolute sweetheart and has been nothing but nice to Dima, however, he does not like the one on one class.  He so badly just wants to be like all the other students, but he is the only student that has to go to this class.  I am hoping over time he will realize how important this class and teacher is for him.  I continue to explain to him what she does for him while he is still learning English and he could not survive all his other classes without her help. 

Cross Country started out great for Dima until he injured his foot.  The team has been great for him as he has gained more confidence.  His foot has been slowly getting better but had to miss a few meets to let it heel. 

Dima running in the Mt. Lion meet.  He finished 12th in the JV meet.

Not a great picture, however, this is Dima after receiving his award.



Last but certainly not least, Dima finally got to take his Citizenship Oath!  After getting Dima's passport issue fixed, he received the letter to take his oath.  I am glad that it he understood English more and thanks to Civics class, he was able to understand what was going on.  He did a great job reading the oath, even with the huge words.  It was an exciting moment for us all!  He was so excited afterwards because I think in his mind he finally is an American, even though technically he was when we landed in New York on January 1, 2011.  We treated him to a dinner at the Cheesecake Factory afterwards and his smile did not leave his face. 

Dima signing his oath.

Dima reading his oath.

The proud Mom and Dad with Dima.

That smile!!!!

Getting Ready for School and the Cross Country Season.

Again, I keep trying to get a post out, but I get distracted and forget!  Since last post, Dima's Uncle John, who was in Afghanistan for the last year, came home.  We had a big party to celebrate.  You can tell that Dima loves having a big family now as he is so happy anytime he sees his extended family.  It is hard to imagine him going through his whole life with having no one to call his family.  It is still hard for me to think that someone could give this child up, but we are so blessed to have him now and hope that we can show him what a family is all about.

Here are a few pictures from the celebration:

Dima and his cousin Ben playing games on Dima's phone.

Dima and Allison swinging together. 

After the celebration, we've been trying to find things for Dima to do until school starts.  We are finally comfortable leaving him home alone.  He has turned into the typical American teenager and sleeps in until about 10am or so.  He enjoys riding his bike around Penn State Altoona and having the freedom to relax.  He started cross country practice last week and seems to really enjoy it.  Coach Baranik and everyone has been absolutely wonderful with Dima. 

It is amazing to see how far he's come in 8 months!  He now is comfortable speaking to new people and engages in conversations.  For some reason he will not speak much to anyone who tries to speak in his language.  We don't know why as we thought he'd love to speak to someone else in his main language. 

Dima's English has been coming along really well.  He has been reading to us each night.  At first he was a little quiet and unsure of himself, but now is reading with confidence.  I just hope he will continue that confidence into this school year! His English has come a long so well that our friends that meet him are amazed that how well he can understand English and they can understand him. 

It is so hard to believe that this time last year, Dima was staying at our house for the hosting program! It's amazing how much has changed in one year.  This time last year we were looking forward to making Dima our son and now he finally is! 

Where is this summer going???

I can't believe how fast this summer is going!  I feel bad that these pictures were taken back in May from Heather (Walk) and Troy's wedding!  Dima had a fun time seeing a wedding for the first time and spending time with his friends again.  Here are some pictures from the wedding.

Dima, Anslee and Artyr

Joe, Artyr, Dusty and Dima

This wedding set the summer off to a great start.  In June Dusty, Dima and I had our first family vacation.  We flew out to my sister's in Arizona.  Dima got to meet his cousin Phillip, Uncle Jamie (my brother-in-law), Uncle Eric (my brother) and Aunt Gina (my new sister-in-law).  We had a short, but great 5 days in the hot sun of Arizona.  Dima loved that they had a pool where we swam in every day to cool off.  He enjoyed being with his family so much that I think he was pretty bummed when we flew back home. 

In July we had our first 4th of July celebration together.  I remember last year looking up at the fire works and thinking about Dima.  This year we all got to look up together at the great fireworks at Delgrosso's Park. The morning started out with a bang as we ran in the YMCA July 4th Race.  We all ran the 15k and Dusty and I tried to "hold" Dima back so he would not tire out, but he took off like it was nobody's business!  By the time I came across the finish line, Dima had enough time to shower, eat a whole BBQ dinner and popsicles.....not really, but the announcer did make a big deal that he finished a long time before his Mom!! He did an amazing job! The smile on his face when he came up to us was absolutely priceless!! He said the people cheered him on when he was finishing.

A few days later my family came home to visit.  It was an awesome time as they all stayed a whole week.  It started out with a surprise wedding reception for my brother Eric and his new wife Gina.  They got married earlier in the year in Hawaii so we thought we'd have a PA reception for them.  They were pleasantly surprised and we had a wonderful celebration.  The next few days we spent at our camp in Blue Knob, road rides at Delgrosso's Park and of course went to Meadow's for ice cream!! We had such a great week it was sad to see everyone go. 

Last week Dima went to a camp all week. It was the same camp where he came for the hosting program last year.  Lori and Russ Walk so graciously invited all the adopted children to come for free.  Dima got to spend time with his friends that were adopted and got to meet other kids that came to camp.  It was a rough week with the weather being extremely hot and Dima struggled as well.  We honestly thought that he would be so busy and having fun with his friends that he would not have any issues.  He has not shut down for us in months and he shut down at camp.  We had a long talk after we picked him up about respect and trying to have fun even if you are doing things you may not want to do.  I am beginning to feel like a broken record with this, but he is not going to change over night.  We get the feeling that in Ukraine he was able to get out of things that he didn't want to do because that's the only time we have issues with Dima.  When he doesn't want to do something, he tries to get out of it. He is slowly learning that it doesn't work here in America.  It will take a while and we need to continue to be patient!!! 

August's plans are to start getting ready for school and cross country.  We have been having Dima read to us at night.  I couldn't imagine how hard it would be to read, but he is a trooper.  He has finally gotten comfortable with reading to us, we just hope he is more comfortable with his new teachers this year in school.  We are also going to work on Algebra so he is prepared for Algebra II.  Last year was a struggle for all of us as we had a hard time learning it so we could help him!!!  Practice for cross country will start mid-August.  We are looking forward to his season starting. 

I can't believe I have forgotten the most important thing this summer, Dima got his first road bike.  He has been saving up money to buy a bike.  He was so proud of it and could not wait to ride! We had shoes and clipless peddles for him to use so the first time out was a little rough.  He didn't make it out of the driveway before hitting the pavement.  Dusty took him out for a ride and a few more falls later, he finally was catching on.  He has been out for a couple rides and has already had a 27 mile bike ride in!!! Dusty warned me that I'd better get out for a ride with him before he is too fast for us!  He has really been enjoying his bike rides and has a constant smile on his face!!!

Hope you all are enjoying your summer!!!

Learning.

Just when you think things are falling into place, something happens.  Such is life.You can either get upset or learn from what happened.  It is not easy being a parent but we are learning that we need to follow through with discipline and nip things in the butt now rather than later when they are bigger.  Trying to change habits or a way someone has been thinking for 14 years does not happen over night.  We have to keep reminding ourselves to be patient.  That is probably the hardest part. 

Although Dima's English has come along so well in 6 months, he is still generalizes words.  He may say something that sounds rude, but that is the only way he knows how the explain it.  One goal this summer is to work on reading and getting caught up in Algebra so he is ready for Algebra II next year.  He made the Honor Roll again! He was so proud of his certificate that he put it up on the refrigerator as soon as he saw it!

We also have been working harder to ask a lot of questions when we see him getting upset.  He has gotten better at talking to us and explaining why he is upset.  That has made a huge difference.  We don't have less issues, but we now can figure out what is wrong within minutes rather than the whole day!  The more he can talk and explain himself makes us wonder why we didn't have more issues in the beginning because he LOVES to ask MANY questions!!! Again, we try to be patient and help answer his questions.  This can be challenging at times, but we try our best to explain things so he can understand them.  He asks some really interesting questions and it makes us learn as well.

This summer Dima is going to the YMCA Teen Camp and doing some work for our friend that has a landscaping business.  So far, Dima really likes the camp.  They do such a great job here.  The counselors and kids are so nice to Dima.  Dima is also very excited to work for money! He is saving up money to buy a "professional" bike like Dusty and I.  At first he said he didn't want one, but after riding for hours and hours, he now wants to save up money to get one.  Dusty started riding with him a few weeks ago so he could get used to riding on roads with traffic.  He was so used to riding all over the place in parking lots so it took a little bit for him to get used to riding in a straight line. 

One night we all rode our bikes to get ice cream.  It was so much fun riding together as a family! Dima is so funny when he comes to a stop sign, he can stop on a dime! Dusty almost ran into him a few times because he stops so quickly! He does a good job looking left and right and 6 times for cars.  We made it to our destination and back with no problems!  The next day Dima had his first bike crash.  We weren't there to witness it, but Dima just shrugged off his skinned knee like it was nothing. 

Last night Dima said he was going to go with me on my bike ride.  I am training for triathlons and had to do a hill repeat workout.  I reluctantly agreed as I had to ride on a hilly and busy road to get to where I was going to do my hill repeats.  After warning him, he still wanted to go.  While I did my hill repeats, he rode back and forth on the flatter part of the road.  We had to ride up some pretty steep hills to get back home, but he did a great job! He was so excited to hear that we road over 13 miles!!

Thanks for reading!
Tina

Finally time to blog!!!!

I am so sorry it's been so long as I would much rather spend time with Dima than sitting on a computer.  I am sure you all understand.  I feel like I have so many years to make up for!! We have been having a blast the last few weeks with spring in full swing....when it's not raining, but that's been pretty much every day!!  I will try to do the last few weeks justice without making this a book. 

First, I want to show a picture from Ukraine of Dima's old boxing coach with newly purchased boxing gloves that was graciously donated from the Altoona Surgery Center.  Here is a picture:



Dima's last week of track went really well.  He improved his time almost every meet except for two, one was rainy and the other he seemed tired for once.  He has amazing strength!  He qualified to run the 3200m at the Middle Distance Championships last Friday.  He had a great run and beat his best time by about 18 seconds as he finished in 12:09!!! Here is a video of his finish:

The following day, Dima wanted to run a local 10K and finished 1st in his age group! Yesterday he ran in our local 5k race that my work puts on, the YMCA Curve Race and finished in 20:17!! Big increase from his first 5k in April where he finished around 26 minutes!!! I think he found something that he really enjoys and is good at! It seems effortless for him.

As as school is going, I think Dima has the summer bug.  We have to keep on him about his school work, which I am sure every other parent is going through this time of year.  He is very close to not making honor roll so we explained to him that he needs to keep working these next couple of weeks and then he will be able to enjoy summer.  He actually seems bummed that school with be over as I think he will miss being around friends he has made in school. 

Dima has learned how to ride a bike for the first time.  It was a pretty cool experience for us all since he has had many firsts before he has come to America.  As I was watching him learn how to ride a bike, I was sad that he never got a chance to ride a bike before, but at the same time I was happy we were able to be there with him.  The first ride didn't go as well as we'd thought.  Dusty had to run along with him holding his seat for about an hour!! The next day he was so excited to go out.  Dusty had to work so I took him to a grassy area to help him.  I hurt my back so I wasn't able to hold on like Dusty did.  When I told Dima that, he looked at me like....do I have to do this on my own??? I kept telling him he was going to be fine and only had to help him for a little bit while he got used to starting on his own.  Next thing I know, he is riding on his own and catching on.  It was one of the coolest experiences to see him progress so quickly.  Now he loves to have the freedom to ride around and gets better and better each day.  He says he doesn't want a "professional" bike like Dusty and I have, but he also said he didn't want to run at one point either. 

The only issue we are having currently with the whole adoption now is with Immigration.  Talking to other parents that have adopted, we discovered that the parents with a 14 old or older received a letter from Immigration about their child needing to take an oath due to an act that was passed a few years ago.  Well, Dima has received no such letter and Dusty has called different offices and continues to get directed to other offices as they have no idea what we are talking about.  We are frustrated as we don't want to find out years later that we needed to do this and have any issues down the road.  We will continue to figure this out on our own as we know it's hopeless to ask our adoption facilitator that we used because he's already received our money.  Other than this, we are just dealing with the typical teen mood swings, but they are not bad at all.  His English is coming along so well in 6 months. 

We look forward to the next few weeks of planned events and our big trip to Arizona to see his Aunt Lisa again and to meet his cousin, Aunt and Uncle's for the first time.  We are all very excited for the trip!!!



Latest Blog

The last few weeks have flown by due to track and functions that we've gone to.  The track season is almost ending, which I think Dima will be bummed as he has really enjoyed being on a team.  He also mentioned the other day that he was bummed school is going to be over soon!  He has come so far from the night before school and he was so upset about going to school! We have all come so far in just four months.  I think back to when we first got home and how things have changed.  Dima is a different child.  He has gained confidence from conquering his fears.  I hope that he continues to push himself when he faces his fears.  He has become much more calm in situations that before would give him anxiety.  I remember the first few days of school when he forgot his watch as we are pulling out of the driveway and he insisted on going back to get it.  Now he just shrugs and says not to worry about going back to get it. 

Communication has gotten so much better.  We pushed him from the beginning to open up to us if he was upset so he wouldn't shut down.  Now if he gets upset, he will talk to us about what is wrong.  He also used to get upset because he didn't understand.  Between school and track, he can now understand a lot.  He still has a hard time being able to say exactly what he is feeling but he can at least say a word or two now to explain.  We had a campfire the other night and Dima asked what were we going to do with the campfire.  We said we were going to enjoy the warm fire and talk.  He did not shut up for that 2 hours!  We laughed while Dima told us the things they would do in Ukraine, mostly just typical boy stuff.  He told us what some of the really bad kids would do and how much the teachers would use hitting as a punishment.  We learned a lot about Dima in those 2 hours.  It still amazes me as to why he chose not to do those really bad things.  What made him realize right from wrong?  He had no family that ever came to visit him.  He had no one to go to after he would have "graduated" in 2 years?

When we first decided to have Dima go out for track, we thought it would be good to give him something to do after school.  We did not realize how much it would help him.  His confidence has tripled! He has a time with his peers to practice listening and speaking English outside of school.  It also gave him a sense of belonging with being on a team that you can't get any other way.  The coaches and kids have been so supportive and often cheer for him when he is running his events.  He is no longer the orphan at his school and looked down upon, he is just one of them.

This weekend will be my very first Mother's Day! The last few Mother's Day have been extremely hard for a few reasons.  The obvious reason was because I was not a mother, but the other reason was because if I would have had my baby, it would have been due this month.  I would get anxious before this day and depressed.  I would wonder why I wasn't able to be a mom. Now I understand that God had a different route for me and has blessed me in so many ways that I often feel like I have to pinch myself.  Dima has been amazing and such a joy to have as a son.  He has brought Dusty and I even closer than I would have imagined after being together for almost 20 years!  Now I am looking forward to Mother's Day with a smile instead of tears. 

Gift and Latest Track Meet

I have been meaning to post these pictures for sometime now.  A few months ago the Altoona Surgery Center had a celebration for us to welcome Dima to America.  They also graciously donated money to us to give towards the Children's Center in Ukraine.  Luckily, we were able to have the Rose's hand deliver the money when they went to adopt Artyr.  If we would have mailed the money over, their was a good chance the missionaries would not have gotten it.  A check would  not have been an option as the missionaries would not have been able to cash it. Ukraine works only with "clean" cash. That means it has to be brand new dollar bills because counterfeiting is big there. Sending cash would have been like burning it because it probably would have not made it if you know what I mean.  So, we sent the money over with the Rose's and had them ask Artyr what was needed at the Children's Center.  These are the pictures of what was purchased.

Artyr with their teacher.  A camera and accessories were purchased.  The kids loved seeing pictures of themselves as they didn't get a chance to see pictures much.  Many of the children do not many pictures of themselves and the ones they did have mostly came from the missionaries.

The other purchase was something that was like gold in Ukraine, an electrical tea kettle! Chai (tea) was huge over there and the children would make chai at the Children's Center.  It was always cold in the rooms so I think it was a way to warm the poor children up!!

Thanks so much to all of those who helped donate the money! These gifts are were so welcomed as they were very well needed.  Not many gifts are given unless a family has adopted from the Center.  It is custom to give gifts back to those to cared for the children at the Center.  Not many children are adopted so not many gifts are given, until the hosting program in Tyrone! About eight kids have been adopted so far from Dima's old Center!

Also to be purchased with the money, yes money goes a long way in Ukraine, are some boxing gloves for the Center. We feel that Dima gained confidence from the boxing program that was at the Center and wanted to give back.  The missionaries that we were contact with over there are working on meeting with the boxing coach to help get some gloves that are needed badly!

Now onto the latest track meet in State College.  The meet was only for 8th graders, but I think there is something in the water in State College as the kids are tall and fast!!!! Dima had some extra cheer leaders as his best friend Artyr made it to the meet!  Here is a picure of them being blown away, it was pretty windy!

LOVE those smiles!!!!

Altoona tried their best to compete against the big SC field.  Dima ran in both the 1600m (1 mile) and 3200m (2 mile). Here are some pictures:

There were about 15 SC boys and only 3 Altoona boys.  Dima is the one in white on the far left.  The winner ran a 5:02 mile??? Dima did really well and ran a 6:05!

Running in the 1600m

Dima and one other Altoona runner for the 3200m.  Dima PR'd (he only ran the 2 mile one other time:) by 23 seconds to finish at 12:52!! 

Dima finishing the 3200m event

We are so proud of Dima for going out for a sport.  It has made a huge difference in his confidence and his English! I really feel all the other children that have been adopted should do some activity or sport outside of school with their peers.  I watched Dima interact with the other kids during the track meet and am amazed how far he's come in only 4 months.  I truly believe that being in an extra curricular activity was a huge help for him.  Being in an activity gives them a sense of belonging and goals to shoot for.  We thank God he was open to do it as it is really paying off!

 

Dima's Track Meet

Today was Dima's second track meet.  This past Saturday was a relay meet where Dima ran in the 1600m Relay and Distance Medley. It was a rough meet with the cold rain.  The poor kids just suffered through it.  Today's weather was much better so the kids could actually race their events.  Dima ran the 1600m event first and did a great job!  I think he finished 4th overall? His next event was the 3200m.  He did a great job by staying behind the boy in the lead.  He had a lot of support from all his coaches, Dusty and I telling him to stay behind him.  The last 100m, he sprinted out around him to win the event!!! He was so excited! We were all the excited to see him finish so well! Seeing his win was "icing on the cake" as he looked like he was having so much fun just being involved in a sport! I put the those words in quotations because he learned that phrase today so I thought it was appropriate to us it.  Here are some pictures from the meet. 

Dima running the 1600m.

Dima running in the 3200m.

Proud Papa and Mama with Dima.

Pictures!

Dima with his best friend Artyr. This was the first time they've seen each other in  2 months!

A picture from Artyr's party with all the kids that have been adopted so far with their new brothers and sisters.

Dima's Uncle John was home for a few weeks from Afghanistan.  This is a picture of the Kunstbeck boys!! What a handsome group!

Dima with his cousins Johanna, Joey, and Ben.

Dima before his first 5k run!

Dima giving me a high five after my half marathon.  I wish you could see his big smile in this picture!!



It's been a while.....

The last few weeks have been so crazy.  I have tried to sit down and write up something but it seems like I can't find the time.  Dima loves to hang out with us so we can't seem to sit down at the computer to write something on the blog without him trying to ask questions.  It's great that Dima wants to learn and asks a lot of questions, but man, he asks A LOT of questions!!! I want to post some pictures, but will have to later.

After the last post, we got the chance to visit Dusty's brother, who was home for a few weeks from Afghanistan.  Dima finally got the chance to meet his Uncle and had a blast with him and Dusty's family! He had so much fun that he was upset to leave! We had a blast playing games outside and finding Easter eggs.  Dima said the Easter egg hunt was for babies, but when it was the older kids turn to find them, he sure seemed like he liked the game!

The following Friday, Dima gave Dusty his report card.  He had no idea what it was.  I was in another room and heard Dusty say..."Did you show this to Mama?".  Dima made the honor roll!  He had no idea what that meant, but after seeing the excitement from Dusty, he was very excited too! He showed me his grades and even though we have been keeping track of his grades, it didn't cross our minds that he would make the honor roll! We are so proud of him and how much he has been working in school and his English!

That weekend we went to Cook Forest near Clarion to compete in a race.  Dima ran his first 5k race while I ran a half marathon.  Dusty unfortunately had to go to a seminar for work that day and couldn't come up until after the race.  A group of friends went up and we all stayed in cabins for the weekend.  We all had so much fun! Dima was a trooper and did great in his first race!  Of course he asked a lot of questions before the race! He hung out with some of my friends while I finished. When I came into the finish, the first person I saw was Dima with the camera taking pictures of me with a big smile on his face!! My heart just melted seeing him, what a great moment! The rest of the weekend we had fun making smores, mountain pies, and playing games.  Dima was a little unsure being around so many people and kids he didn't know, but he did so well after he relaxed.  The day after the race, Dusty, Dima and I walked around Clarion University to show Dima where I went to college.  It was fun to show him where I played basketball and the places I stayed. 

Today is Dima's first track meet.  Being in track has helped to improve his English even more and has helped him socially.  We can not wait to see how he does.  No matter what, we will be so proud of him for being brave and getting out of his comfort zone to participate in track! We will let you know how it goes!

Seeing Artyr and losing a tooth.....

It's been quite a week as Dima finally got to see his best friend Artyr last Sunday and a few days later he lost a tooth!  As I posted before, Dima was so excited to see his friend again and as each day got closer, his excitement grew.  Here are a couple video's of them together. 

This is a video of Dima and Artyr seeing each other again. I stopped it early as I had to get my hug from Artyr!

The next video is of Artyr opening up his gifts from Dima.  Dima was so excited to get something for him.



All the other children that have been adopted came to welcome Artyr home. At one point I sat back and looked around the room to see all the children laughing and having fun. The mood was very different from when we were all back in the orphanage. The children seemed tense and their laughter was not as intense as it is now. It was amazing to see all the smiles. Like Cheri Walk said in her blog, I didn't think Artyr's smile could get any bigger....it was permanent on his face. He was such a thoughtful young man as he could have hung out with Dima and Erik the whole party, but he kept making his rounds with every other child and family members that came to see him. I can't wait to see how he blossoms with his new, loving family.

Dima has had a tooth that's been lose and the other day it finally came out. Dusty explained to Dima in America if you leave your tooth under your pillow, the tooth fairy will leave you money. Dima acted like it wasn't a big deal but as soon as he got ready for bed that night, he ran and got his tooth to put it under his bed. Well, the tooth fairy left Dima a big amount of money under his bed that night! Dusty woke Dima up the next morning and told him to look under his bed. Dima pulled out the money, looked at Dusty with a big smile and said "Thank you!".

Our First Parent-Teacher Conferences!

As Dusty and I were walking into the Altoona Junior High, I said to Dusty that this is our first parent-teacher conference and we laughed that we skipped to 8th grade! We first visited Dima's English teacher since she is basically the facilitator between Dima and his teachers.  She told us how he has made improvements the last few weeks.  We are so excited to finally see him open up a little to her more! With the help of Liliya and the teacher having a lot of patience he is not as upset to have the class by himself.  He just wants to be like all the other children.  He can be stubborn and not talk to her when he feels the content is too easy, but since he wouldn't talk to her, she had to continue with the basics.  We met with Dima's other teachers and all have said the same thing about him being very shy and will not say much to them, but that he is doing very well.  They are noticing that he is starting to be more social with his peers which is good.  We wish we could record how much Dima speaks to us and let his teachers hear how much he really does know.  Sometimes he will talk so much that Dusty and I can't get him to be quiet!

We have been in touch with all of Dima's teachers but to see them face to face was really nice.  They have all been extremely wonderful and patient with Dima.  We are very pleased with the Altoona Junior High School system.  I have to admit that I was a little hesitant at first since it was a big school and was afraid that Dima would just be a number to the school, but that has not been the case at all.  Maybe that would not be the case for the other children that are adopted or being adopted, but Dima has bloomed into such a young man since he's gone to school.  My advice to those trying to figure out about a school is to think about the child and what would be best for their personality.  Even though Dima is shy, he is very brave and social so he is doing well in this school.

Dima also started track last week, what a brave boy! We are so proud of him for getting out of his comfort zone again to try out for track.  It took a little coaxing and explanation from Liliya, but he wanted to do it.  The morning of the first day I noticed he was grumpy so I figured it was because he was nervous.  We picked him up after the first day and he had his big ol' smile on him again, phew!

Before track started, he would run with us for about 30 minutes with little problems so Dusty and I thought he'd be better at the distance events.  Yesterday when I picked him up from practice, I asked if he went with the distance kids and he said..."no, did lots of sprints".  It didn't dawn on me until I talked to him more about it and he said that he switched to sprints! I laughed and told Dusty that he and about every other kid on the team are doing sprints.  We thought if he'd do distance he'd have a better chance making the away team, but we will see.  He likes to sprint and we think having his new friends doing sprints was the main reason he switched.  The main thing is that he is enjoying track and it helps him to be more social and confident with his English.  I think it has worked because my Dad dropped him off the other day and he said Dima saw his friends going into practice and he jumped out of his truck and ran up to his friends!

Last night we all went to see "Annie" that the Altoona Junior High students put on and it was really good! I was so busy before the play that I didn't think about the play being about an orphan.  As the first scene starts and all the girls are sleeping in one room, it hit me like a tone of bricks! I really had a hard time not letting Dima see me as it brought back so many memories of what Dima went through.  Just to think a few short months he was in an orphanage with no family! I then started to worry that he was going to be upset, but again, he was a brave boy and enjoyed seeing a few students that he knew. 

Tomorrow is the big day that Dima will see his best friend Artyr! He is so excited to see him again and I can't imagine how excited he is going to be tomorrow.  I will make sure I take some pictures of the reunion!
Thanks for reading!
Tina

Party at Lodge

Yesterday we went to a party to celebrate Dema, Anslee and Vika coming to America.  It was a great time talking to the other parents that have adopted and those that are still in the process of completing paperwork.  Before we left for church yesterday I read about some great news.  People that helped out at camp had been thinking of adopting but timing just didn't seem right until recently. They were able to Skype with sisters when Cheri and Russi Walk were in Ukraine.  They are around Dima's age and from the same orphanage. I am so excited to hear about that as I will never forget hearing the younger sister ask Lori Walk to find her a Mama and Papa.  They were actually to make the hosting trip but because of paperwork and no one showing interest in hosting them, they missed the trip.  Again, I am seeing how amazing God is putting families together halfway across the world. Please pray for the family that is adopting them and the sisters they are adopting.  I just remembered one more moment I had with the girls in Ukraine.  During the birthday party to celebrate Anslee's birthday, I had the older sister stand up next to me.  She is very tall for her age and told her that she was tall.  Later I was told how insecure the girl is about her heigth.  I remember being her age and taller than most kids my age and how embarrassed I was.  I can't say enough about how sweet these girls are and how excited I am that this great family is trying to adopt them!

Back to the party......here are some pictures from the wonderful afternoon.

Anslee, Vika, Liliya and Dima.....I think he really enjoyed being the only older boy there!!

Janelle with her daughter Vika

Dima, Anslee.....ok, you guys are a little too close together.....Vika, Vika and Liliya

Me, Dima and Dusty

Thanks for organizing a great party Cheri and Cindy!!!!! Can't wait until the next celebration when Artyr comes to America!!!

Counting down the days.....

When I first started asking Dima if he was getting excited about Artyr (Dima's best friend that has been adopted from his orphanage in Ukraine) coming home soon, he played it off like he wasn't that excited. I can only imagine that he has been let down so many times in his life, that deep down inside him he doesn't want to show his emotions. Artyr is coming to his forever home on March 11th and will be living within 45 minutes of Dima.  Dusty and I are so excited that Artyr will be so close as well.  Dusty and I will never forget when we took the bus to pick up the children at the Philly airport to bring them back for camp in August.  After all the children walked from customs into where we met them, Artyr came up to Dusty and introduced himself.  Little did we know then that this boy was going to make such a huge impact on a lot of peoples lives.  Artyr is 15 years old and in another year would have "graduated" from the orphanage.  He was fortunate that Lori(whom organized the hosting camp) was able to take pictures and get to know the children when she was in Ukraine adopting Ana.  This was a life changing event for Artyr because normally the center will pick the most "adoptable" children to send on hosting trips.  Usually younger children are sent since they are most wanted for adoption.  From what we understand, this was the oldest group of children that came to a hosting camp in America and almost all are being adopted!!

When Artyr came to camp, he won everyones hearts over and actually had a choice of what family he wanted to be hosted and adopted by.  The Rose family had intentions to host another child but after seeing Artyr with their girls, they new Artyr would be a good fit for their family.  It is amazing to watch him with his little sisters.  He is such a caring boy. 

Anytime that Dusty and I even mention a date in March, Dima chimes in and says March 12th!!! He knows that is the date he is going to see his best friend.  The other day I saw him shut his bedroom door and heard a scratching noise.  I asked what he was doing and he said "secret".  I left it go and Dusty noticed this on his calendar. 

The date when Dima will see Artyr.

This weekend we will also be seeing two sisters that arrived last week from the Dima's orphanage.  These two girls will be living in Tyrone and are around Dima's age.  We are very excited to see them again.  Anslee and Vika are their names.  My last birthday was very special as I was able to be in Ukraine with Dima and since Anslee's birthday is the day after mine, we got to celebrate together.  It will be a birthday I will never forget! Anslee was so overwhelmed from having a big celebration that she hid behind a curtain crying.  After her friends coaxed her out, we had cake and ice cream.  She said it was the best birthday ever. 

I want to end this blog with thanking those from the Altoona Surgery Center that were gracious to donate money towards the orphanage.  We have sent the money over with Artyr's father so he can make sure the money will go to the orphanage.  I will let you know what is purchased and hopefully get pictures as well. 

One more thing, the Gurley family, who is adopting two children from the hosting camp, are going to be leaving next week for Ukraine! We will pray for safe travels and for a quick adoption!  I will never forget Vika speaking at camp how she was already at a hosting camp in America before and that all she wanted was to live in America.  It broke my heart knowing her age and that this trip was the last chance of being adopted since she was older.  I am so amazed at how God had this all planned and orchestrated the right people at this hosting camp!

Thanks for reading,

Tina

Get together for the kids.

Liliya(English tutor) organized a get together for the kids that have been adopted so far. She thought it would be a good idea to go to skating so we met in Altoona at Galactic Ice.  Since everyone lives within an hours drive, it is fairly easy for us all to get the kids together and see one another.  It is also very nice for us to see the kids and their parents.  The kids seemed to have a lot of fun together.  It was crazy busy in the rink so we couldn't race each other like we did when we were in Ukraine.  Here is only picture from skating.  It was too crazy to take pictures of the kids skating.

Dima and Erik

Ice skating in Altoona made it easy for my parents to come as well.  My dad even got out his old ice skates and was trying some of his old tricks.  After skating, we all went out for dinner.  It was nice to be able to talk with the other parents and how their transitions are going.  It was interesting to see Dima with the other kids as he not once tried to speak English.  With us, he tries to speak as much as he can in English. He will only speak in Russian when he doesn't know what to say or when he gets upset, which has become less and less since he's able to understand a lot more now.  Here are a few pictures of the kids at dinner.

Vika who just came to America a few weeks ago and Ana who has been here since last May.

Vika and Ana having fun.

Ana, Dema(who came a few weeks after our Dima), Vika with Dima and Erik giving them antler ears.

This Friday two more girls will be come to America, Anslee and Vika.  They were adopted by Cheri and Russ Walk.  On March 11th, Dima's best friend Artyr will be here as well.  Dima know exactly what day Artyr is coming and is trying to hide his excitement!  Other families are to follow after that and we are excited to hear about their experiences and to see them again in America!  

First Valentine's Day

Before I start this blog, Dusty and I wanted to thank everyone at the Altoona Surgery Center for a wonderful party you put on for us adopting Dima.  You guys know how to put on a great party!! We truly appreciate how thoughtful it was to do that for us.  Your donation is going to help more than you know!!!

Now back to my the blog......

I get the feeling the holidays are going to be a blast with Dima! It was a three ring circus trying to get everyone a gift without each one knowing.  Dima was learning about Valentine's Day with his English teacher and was really getting into the spirit.  He pulled Dusty aside on Friday to ask if they could get something for me for Valentine's Day.  He later came to me and said he wanted to get something for Papa.  This seemed like it would have been easy, but it was more challenging than we thought since Dima wanted it to be a secret.  Sunday, Dusty was not feeling well and decided to take a nap.  I told Dusty that Dima and I were going to "hang out" and Dima played along with me.  We went out to find something for Dusty and started looking at the cards first.  As we were looking, Dima found a card that was for a Mother and Father and I noticed he was looking at it for a while.  We kept looking and found Dusty a card from Dima.  Then Dima picks up a card and hides it from me.  He said he wanted this card too.  I gave him his space and we checked out.  Dima hid Dusty's Valentine's gift way back in his closet.  Later that day, Dusty told me he and Dima were "going to the store".  Dima played along and repeated Dusty.  I had to pretend I didn't know what they were doing.  Dima was having a blast with this game. Later that day, Dima asked Dusty if we could exchange gifts, but we had to explain to him that we would exchange on Valentine's Day. He was so excited that he was even willing to get up with Dusty at 5:30 in the morning to exchange gifts.  We finally talked him into doing during dinner.  We also have not had a chance to get Dima something from us since we were so focused on helping him.  We had to do it the next morning after Dima went to school.  Later that evening, I hear this giggling and through the kitchen doorway I see these flowers! Dima could not wait to give them to me. 

The next day after school we were trying to all get our gifts downstairs without everyone seeing what they were.  Dusty and I were laughing so hard.  I think Dima was more excited to give gifts than to receive.  The smile on his face was priceless! I hope this excitement never goes away for him and that holidays don't become routine for us all.  Having Dima has opened our eyes to so many things and has helped us appreciate the little things in life.

School Work

I just thought I'd give the future families a heads up about school work.  You get so focused on adopting your child, then helping them transition and then life starts to happen.  Dima seems to be settling into school well and is now bringing home schoolwork.  We are discovering that it's not as easy as we expected.  Fortunately, Dusty is better at Algebra than me so his job is to help Dima with that homework.  We have some great friends that have been able to help us out since it's been so long since we've had Algebra. I think it looks different from when we did it so long ago. It's hard enough to figure out Algebra problems and then it's even harder to try and explain it to Dima somehow.  It takes a while to do a few problems, but they are figuring the problems out.  We haven't been able to find of if the problems are correct, watch us find out we are teaching him incorrectly!  I have been helping Dima with Google Translating questions in his other subjects and helping him find the answers.  It is still a little overwhelming, but he is really handling it well.  We have to be patient with him.  If we start to get impatient, he picks up on that and gets upset. 

He loves his Earth Science class and luckily has learned some of the material before.  The difficult thing now is learning it in English.  It is time consuming to type up the questions in English and then try to have Dima find the answers in his book, but it seems to help him.  He is actually starting to help read the questions to me where as before he seemed embarrassed to read out loud. For those that are adopting an older child, expect it to take some time at first trying to translate, but it is worth it.

 Dima was not expected to do all the work that the others kids are doing, but he didn't want to just sit in class.  He still has some classes where he is not able to do the work, but the teachers have been great in including him but not putting too much pressure on him.  He seems to be responding well to that and looks forward to going to school.  He is starting to talk about other kids in his class and we've heard that he is more comfortable in talking with other kids now.  I am sure it will take some time until he can actually gain the courage to speak in class, but for now we are very happy with how he is progressing!

This past weekend, Dima finally got to Skype his good friend Artyr from Ukraine.  His soon to be parents from Pleasant Gap, Pa are currently in Ukraine going through the adoption process.  Dima was very happy to see his friend as were we.  In just another month Artyr will be an American citizen! We are praying for them and can't wait for them to come home safely!

No School....again!

Dima REALLY likes school here in America! He has quickly learned how the delays and cancellations work.  Last night he kept saying to us and looking outside.....ICE..NO SCHOOL!!! Dusty and I didn't want him to get his hopes up so we kept saying that he'd better get to sleep because there may not be a delay.  Well, after seeing this morning that Punxy Phil didn't see his shadow, school was cancelled due to ice.  For my brother and sister...this picture is for you guys since you live in warm climates now:

My brother is getting married in Hawaii today!!! So excited for him and Gina as I am gaining a great Sister-In-Law!!

Back to how Dima is doing.  I have had people say they are missing the blogs everyday so I promise I will try to keep updating everyone.  Dima's getting better and better everyday with his English! His little meltdowns are getting a lot less since he is getting more comfortable as well.  It was nice to hear him on the phone with his Aunt Sherri and Grandma Nora last night.  He is  now able to carry on a basic conversation.  He constantly asks questions how to say things.  We only use Google Translate to help with specific words in English or he types the Ukrainian word so he can see the English word.  He seems to be getting more comfortable with school and his teachers as well.  His English teacher told us a funny story the other day.  Dima is known to hide as it's a sign he is comfortable with whom he's hiding from.  I mentioned before that he was giving her a hard time in class.  The other day he went into class and when she went into the room, she could not see him.  She looked around and saw his sneakers from under her desk.  She went along with him and said "I thought I saw Dima come in here".  That was good to hear that he is finally opening up.  He seems to like his classes and wants to do his work.  It is still hard to do what all the other children are doing.  One example is his Reading class.  He still can't read what book they are reading, but I am going to see if I can find out what book and see if I can get it in his language. 

Dusty and I continue to see little things each day that just amaze us.  He is one special boy and I am just amazed that he is not mad at the world for having to live 14 years in an orphanage.  He is full of laughter and loves to joke around.  He constantly makes us laugh with his little sayings and quick comebacks.  We are truly blessed!