Ella's First Day of Preschool- Year 2

Ella enjoyed meeting her new teacher, Natalia Grigorevna. She is very young--quite a contrast from last year's experienced Nadezhda Vladimirovna. But I'm happy that Ella only has a 7 syllable name to learn! None of our kids have ever had teachers with less than 8 syllable name-patronymic combos. And that is how they address their teachers.  There are few students in the group yet--about 8 total, though there will be 15 eventually. Three kids are new, and so far, they are all very nice! Ella loved her first day, and loved her teacher. She said there were no 'yuck duck' things from preschool at all!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Ella's teacher has a daughter who is two. She was in her own 'nursery' group at the preschool for two hours. But she spent the rest of the morning in Ella's group. 

 

 

 

But the second day, her new teacher was not there. A woman who was Tima's teacher last year often subs in for the off-days, and she was there. Ella started whimpering right away. And by the time she was ready to go in, she was full blown crying and clinging. Eventually, she did go to her teacher's embrace. I was impressed the teacher would hold her. I don't know why Ella doesn't like her. But Tima told me that the teacher did yell a lot in his class. However, Ella ended the day saying that it was wonderful. And her new teacher promised to be there every morning for the whole next month!

Tima's First Day of School

All ready, with required flowers!

The boy next to Tima was in his preschool class. He knows two other boys in his new class.

Speeches were thankfully shorter this year. But Tima was sad that a few traditions were missing. The 1st years didn't get the banners to wear announcing their 'first year' status. And no button with their class. And, the 11th graders didn't  'escort' the 1st years to their classroom as happened for Danya. Tima did well listening, watching, and said that it wasn't too boring.

But when balloons were released, and one group was entangled in a tree, Tima kept looking backward to see them.

Finally, in the classroom. His teacher didn't have the parents come in to watch anything--just quick photos, then she corralled everyone out and closed the door! But Tima reported that after drawing a picture, writing their names, then they played a 'Name Game' with a beach ball. That seemed fairly hopeful to us, that his teacher is investing in the kids feeling comfortable and knowing each other.  He actually finished the day and said, "That was fun!"

So far, we are so grateful for many answered prayers. Tima, though scared, was excited to go. His teacher seems okay, and he has a few known classmates.

Now, on to day 2, and so on, and so on. From our previous experience, the excitement of day 1 wears off, and then the real prayers are needed!

Preparing for School

School Uniforms
         White button down shirts, one that fits, one to grow into, $20
         Black pants- $10 cotton, too heavy for every day?
         Clip-on tie, and spare $10
         School shoes, nice black shoes with no laces!
         Gym shoes (Nike soccer shoes on sale! $15)
        New backpack- Clone Wars, to bring a smile!

        Green Blazer 1900rubles- $60, ordered too late for 1st September start date,

        Dry-cleaning of old blazer to use until Sept 15th -290rubles- $10

        Wool-blend black pants - 900r $30

         Hemming of new pants - 280r $10

School supplies

       School textbooks and work books- purchased through the school  1400r ($45)

       2 exercise books with graph paper, 2 with diagonal lines. $2

       4 colors of pens, pencils, colored pencils, pencil sharpener, eraser, ruler ?

       many many many more clear plastic book covers (bought a few at a time)
       2 more sets of colored pencils, because we had no orange pencils in our collection.
       preschool supplies-- a list hotly contested by the parents, totaling about $100.

Remodeling of Tima's classroom 1400r ($45) on accounting sheet. Another 1600 ($55) requested... perhaps due to some parents lack of agreement to pay.

Flowers for teacher (required by custom!) $20 for each child.

    

 

July photos

We were so blessed to have our teammate Lena stay two nights with us. And our former teammates, the Huddlestons, came for a day as well. Such delight to be together!

MTI's Debrief and Renewal Program was a four-day rest and retreat for our whole family. The best part was the childrens' program. One of many activities was the transplanting of flowers--to illustrate what a person goes through when they move from culture to culture. So far, our kids (and their impatiens) are thriving, despite their recent chaotic environment. Hopefully the fall won't kill us as it will do the flowers!

After watching The Princess Bride, our kids reenacted the fighting scenes. Tima played Wesley (who he calls the Ninja man.) Danya played the various opponents, even the giant. And Ella alternated between the Princess (above) and the "Inconceivable!!" man.

This summer we have seen many people for the first time in 10 years! Above is our CC friend Kaleyke (Rachel) and her husband and daughter. It was a delight to see them, finally!

Family gatherings with first and second cousins, many friends and faithful supporters who we haven't seen for  years. It has been a busy summer. This is a record of where we have slept in the last two months:

Bundy parents
Coe parents
hotel- Amarillo
Boyds
Jeff and Amber
Hudds
Uncle Reggie and Aunt Becca
hotel-Pueblo
A&J Miller
Coe
Thiessens
DAR retreat
Thiessens
Coe parents

and the next three weeks:
Almontes
Glenwood hotel
Colemans
Coe parents
Bundy parents

Aug 12th, we leave for our own beds! Very mixed emotions about that right now... the summer is going way too fast.



more photos of all of our fun!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150217257031916.310850.593736915&l=5636544e7b

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150196698976916.306243.593736915&l=72791406ef

May in Colorado

 We landed in Colorado May 16th, after the easiest trip ever. Travelling with all our children four and older is wonderful!! We highly recommend it.

The first week was spent with family and recovering from jet lag. Then, we began seeing friends and supporters. We enjoyed the swimming pool with our nieces, and the restful rural/suburban environment where our parents live. Above, we enjoyed baseball with the Dupras, while the youngest members played inside

 

 We enjoyed a home gathering of our church in Boulder, reuniting us with some of our kids' longest term friends--the McCulloughs.

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 And we enjoyed breakfast with a high school friend and her family! It was so good to reconnect with Heather (Stock) and Steve Stock, and their three boys.

Danya is Nine!

Since I forgot to color the frosting, he dripped colors on it himself and swirled to make a very interesting pattern.

The day before his birthday, six classmates joined us to ice skate at Megamall: Pasha, Sasha, Sonya, Erik, Elya, Ksyusha,

Yes, he actually turned nine two weeks ago. But just received his gift! He's been counting the days, then the hours until the long-sought Boba Fett ship arrived. And though it was more complicated than any LEGO set he's ever done, in a few hours it was put together.

So, thank you Grandma and Grandpa, for joining with us to get him an unexpectedly amazing gift! And all the more so, having anticipated it for two weeks.

Tima Shines for Women's Day

Ella is Four!

We can't believe that Ella is four years old!

The celebration started with a call from Grandma and Grandpa (staying up late!) Then birthday pancakes, presents. Danya and Tima were very excited for Ella's birthday because they had begged to be taken to the toy store to buy Ella a gift with their own money. They chose a stuffed snow leopard, which truly was what Ella wanted more than anything! She also got a Toy Story Lego kit - her very first 'own' legos,  complete with her beloved Jessie and BullsEye.

I took her to the store to buy last minute party supplies, and it was so fun to let her choose which plastic plates, which napkins, etc. She just loved every minute. After insisting that she wouldn't nap beccause she was so excited for her party, she fell asleep within five minutes. (Which suprised me, as she hardly ever falls asleep during nap time anymore!)

Amazingly, all the friends we invited were healthy and able to brave to -25C temps. We had our three adult teammates (who Ella loves deeply) and two families who each have three kids. Thanks to Eric's inexhaustible creative energy, I enjoyed dinner with the women while he did games and more with the kids. We even got to see all the kids act out a Frog and Toad story! (Can I just say that I think Eric is the most amazing father in the world? And I won't even mention what kind of  amazing husband he is!)

All told, it was a wonderful time with our friends, and the kids had a very fun party with their friends. I wish it would work out to mix preschool (Russian-speakers) with staff friends (English-speakers) but the truth was, 16 people in 630 square feet was just enough! I am so grateful for our little girl, and also for the blessing of good friends!

Enjoying the cold outside, and mom's camera inside.

"Mama, I don't like the sun!"

(And when I told her that I did, she reminded me that it gave me a headache the day before. True, but...

 It's rumored that we've had 630cm of snow this winter. That's over seven feet! But we did have some melting in the middle. It's delightful, though!

After a few weeks hovering around 0C (32F) we are now at 0F (-18C). I am so grateful to live where people aren't afraid of the cold ! And to have learned from our years in Irkutsk how to dress for the cold! And yet, here in St. Pete, there are actually people out running in this cold weather! Of course, there were hundreds skiing, but running!!! (And the truth is, I'm also grateful that this is the coldest part of the winter, unlike Irkutsk, where the coldest was -35C or even colder.

Inside, we've enjoyed a lot of music, and I've let the kids take pictures with my camera. Some of the results are below:

The kids all liked this hockey stick picture. Something in it that appeals to their artistic side...?



Area Staff Conference

A week-long party with over a thousand coworkers who serve in 20 countries of Eastern Europe and Russia. We gathered on the Adriatic coast of Slovenia to worship, pray, learn, share and simply be together. It was a very encouraging time for me, and an incredible time for our kids.

We were too busy to take pictures, but managed a few on the last day when the kids performed their songs. 'Childcare' was actually a conference for the children, put on by 23 volunteers from Bakersfield, CA, who raised money for their own journey (and tubbies full of crafts, ethnic food and American treats)! Our kids had a great time, learned a lot, and were only disappointed that they couldn't stay with their new friends and teachers forever.

See more cute photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=265347&id=593736915&l=94e2625d71