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!