Groundhog Day

My dad has been referring to each day as Groundhog Day, from the movie, because every day is so much like the day before. We get up at 7, get ready, go eat at 8, always the same food: scrambled eggs and potatoes with a strawberry danish thing, orange juice and coffee for me. Then we go back to the room to make sure we have everything for the morning visit. Next we leave for the orphanage at 10:00, then visit until her lunch at noon, come back, walk to lunch, walk around town, go back to the room and make sure we have everything ready for our afternoon visit, meet the driver at 4pm, go to our afternoon visit, visit until her dinner at 6, come back to the hotel and meet Mandy and Catherine in the lobby, walk to dinner, dinner here takes forever; about 2 hours, walk back, double check that we'll all meet up again at 8am tomorrow for breakfast, say goodbye, then I get online, update the blog, check e-mails and see if anyone is on IM. Then I go to bed about midnight and get up at 7 and do it all over again! But.....tomorrow we're getting up early to get to breakfast early to leave at 8:30 for the airport! Tomorrow mid-morning we'll be in Moscow again. We plan to go to Arbat Street which is famous for souvenir shopping.
We were inside for both visits today because it rained this morning. I think we could have gone out for the second visit because it had stopped raining and it was beautiful, but I suppose they thought it was too muddy, too damp, too chilly, too windy, or too something else. Anyone who has visited these orphanages will know what I mean by that.
Anyway, I can tell she enjoys being outside more than inside. She's so much more calm outside, and happier, but we did OK in the playroom. Before they brought her in I noticed the piano was open and there was a book of music opened up. I asked if I could play it and Vica and Galina said yes. I played the song the page was open to. They thought she would like it if I played it for her when she came in, so I did. She did like it, then she sat on my lap and played a little herself. She motioned for me to give her one of the maracas on top of the piano then when I gave it to her she played along with the piano. After a while she started to hit the piano with the maraca, and we had to tell her Nyet. I tried to get her interested in something else, but she kept going back to the piano. Eventually she got into the crayons instead. Mandy loaned us a pair of her son's size 3T jeans and a shirt to try on her to estimate her size. When she saw those jeans she got SO excited and immediately began to take her shoes off and pull those jeans on. They fit great (over a pair of tights and a pair of crocheted leggings)! The length was only a teensy bit long, and the waist was adjustable, so it worked. So I was right when I had guessed earlier in the week that she's a solid 3T who may wear 4T by the fall. She also let us measure her height which was 39inches. When it was time to go I had to take the jeans back to return them to Mandy, but she did NOT want to take those jeans off. It took both Vica and me to get them off of her through a pretty big tantrum. But afterwards I held her and she held onto me and quieted down and was fine.
So, on the second visit I wanted to measure her foot by tracing it onto a large piece of paper I had brought. She definitely didn't want us to take her shoes off. She also wouldn't let us trace her foot with her shoe on! So my dad traced my foot with my shoe on, then he traced my foot with my shoe off; she still wanted no part of this! Then he traced my hand. We tried to coax her into letting us trace her hand, but nyet. Then we traced the stuffed monkey's hand. That she thought was OK, she then picked up the monkey's other hand and wanted us to trace that. Then we traced one of the monkey's feet, and she picked up the monkey's other foot and wanted us to trace that. Then...she let us trace her hand! (as a fist, around her knuckles) then, she let us trace her foot with the shoe on. Then........she let us trace her foot with her shoe off!!! She whimpered and whined about it like she was kind of scared, but we did it, put the shoe quickly back on and then she sat in my lap and held on tight. We rocked and sat quietly for awhile until she got over the 'trauma' of having her shoe off and went back to playing. So, now we can shop for shoes!!!
She was still trying to get away with playing the piano the second visit today. The caretaker said, "She does not act in this way in the group!" "She must be getting spoiled already!" Vica said she did notice that if Vica or Galena tell her to do, or to not do something she does not listen, but when one of the caretakers tells her to do or not do something, it only takes one time. So, it sounds like she does listen well when she knows who the authority figure is. Now we just have to get it through to her that Wade and I are the authority figures and we'll be set!

Yet Another Good Day!

I could probably title each blog, Another Good Day! Today we spent a lot of time reading books! She didn't bring the coloring book out with her today, (Both visits were outside again, yay!) but dug through to find the rainbow book, the lift the flap book, the doggie (sabaka) book and the photo book I made for her. Toward the end of the second visit she was really into the photo book. Vica pointed to the pictures and explained them to her. Then Vica would tell her 'find Mama', 'find Papa', 'find Dedushkya', find 'Babushka', 'find brat(something)' for Mommy, Daddy, Pah, Grandma, and her brothers. And....she did! She'd flip through and find us and point and say the words! (Russian words). Vica said she was impressed because she's never said those words before; at least not Grandma, Grandpa, or brothers and she said them pretty well! At the very end she started saying it in a sentence and patting her chest as she said it, like 'my Mama' 'my Papa'. Today she didn't want to leave. She yelled, "Nyet, Nyet," a lot and pulled back away from them. She did that a little on the second visit until she was told it was time to eat, then she happily said, "Paka" and walked away to dinner. She always wants me to hold her. If I'm not, she puts her arms up to ask me to. If I don't want to (she gets heavy) I squat down to her level, talk to her, give a hug, etc. This morning when I did that, she tapped on my knee to make me stand up. When I stood up she put her arms out to be picked up, tricky. But I fell for it again in the afternoon when she tapped on my knee and I didn't get up, she motioned with her fingers to me kind of like a "come here" motion with her hand, so...I got up, and then she put her arms up to be picked up again. When I don't pick her up she throws a little Nyet Nyet tantrum. No tears, just she'd mad at me.
Before the morning visit we went to a material store. We bought some material and lace in hopes that my mom can find a pattern for a traditional dress, she can make it out of material that came from Russia!
Inbetween visits we walked to the Kremlin and went in the church there. We saw the military practicing for something, they were marching around. We then walked to a mall. This Sunday is Easter here, so we bought some Easter cakes; one for Galina, one for Vica and one for ourselves! We haven't had it yet, so we'll let you know later if it is good.
That's about it for today. After the afternoon visit we walked to the French restaurant with Mandy and Catherine, now we're back! So, until tomorrow....

Another Good Day!

We had another good day! First off, great weather again, so we got to go outside for our first visit. That made 3 in a row outside! We went for a walk around the building. I had to learn the word 'walk' in Russian because she wants me to carry her and she's SO heavy! But when I tell her to walk, she takes my hand and stops asking to be picked up. She colored some; yes she came to me carrying the coloring book again. She played with her doll, the ring toss, pretty much played a little with each thing I had brought. I showed her the little photo album I had made for her. She really liked it; flipped through it over and over, then, as usual, put it back in the backpack when she was finished.
The visit started earlier than usual today, so it ended earlier than usual today, so we had more time to do things inbetween visits. The two other moms and one little boy went with us to Banana Mama, a store similar to Babies R Us. I bought a Russian Nursery Rhyme/Fairy tale book (made for younger kids) and a fairy tale book (for a little older kids) by Pushkin, a famous Russian writer (think Hans Christian Anderson). I also picked up a Disney princess book all in Russian that says "I am a Princess" in Russian on the cover. Inside it has places to put age, height, weight, handprints, pictures, etc. It's SO cool! It's like a baby book for an older child AND written in her native language! I LOVE it! I also got these alphabet cards, big, sturdy cards with one letter of the Cryllic alphabet on each card, decorated with something that starts with that letter. I'm going to get a little ledge like shelf to put the letters of her Russian name on to display in her room. My dad got Cryllic alphabet blocks, a cute crocheted pink hat, and a book about Yellow Lab puppies. I would have liked to look longer, but little boy needed to go back to the hotel for a nap. Maybe we'll go again sometime.
We went to the grocery store for lunch. We bought American cheese slices (packaged, just like we'd get at home), a box of crackers, a tangerine, a Coke, a Pepsi, and a bag of sunflower seeds, all for 5 American dollars! Then we walked to this outdoor market where vendors were selling produce, fish, meat, cheese, eggs, candy, clothing, books, etc. It was like a flea market with each booth selling its own thing. We took pictures of all the raw meat hanging around, and fish, we bought some candy. The lady was so nice and helpful and picked out some she thought we'd like.
At 4:00 we went for the afternoon visit. We opted to stay inside this time. I think she spent an hour of the hour and a half visit playing with these puzzle cards I had brought along. She like to take each one out and look at it, then put each one back in. The first time she had trouble putting them back in, so I held the bag for her. Every once in a while I'd shake the bag so the pieces would fit right in the bag. When we finished she dumped them all out, looked at them a little, then started to pick them up and put them in the bag one by one, shaking the bag each time, just like I had!! She wouldn't share with me or my dad, so we got out some other puzzle cards. They are very similar, but a tiny bit bigger and of animals instead of everyday objects; they're also more cartoon like and the ones she was playing with were photographs. She grabbed these from us, and we let her, they got all mixed up and then....I suppose she noticed they were different because she took a few out and put them in a different pile. She continued to look at each one and when she found one that didn't belong tossed it into the other pile! I was really amazed by that. My dad tried to sneak one of the animal cards back into her pile, but she saw him and yelled, "Nyet!" and threw it back into the animal pile.
Oh, another funny thing she did during the first visit... Galina said something to her, then she ran and put the coloring book back in the backpack! I was amazed, I asked the translator, Vica, what Galina said to get her to finally, after two days, put the book back. She said, "Galina asked if she could see the book, so she ran and put it in there probably so Galina wouldn't be able to take it." When Galina went to talk to some other people, she ran and got it back out again and never let it go. She still has it! Oh, she's so T. They will get along super well, I can tell!
We also let her listen to my dad's ipod today to the Russian children's songs he downloaded. She liked them. She didn't sing along, but she did say an animal name or two during Old McDonald, and she looked at her hands during Simon Says when they said to clap your hands. She probably would have clapped if she hadn't been holding onto the coloring book.
The first day we met, she cried both times she left me; yesterday she didn't cry, but today, she whined and sorta cried/complained, tried to run back to me. I'll feel so bad leaving her after Friday. I think by then she'll be expecting me to come back Saturday and I won't, for like a month or even two!
For dinner we went back to the French restaurant we went to our first night here. It was really good again, and inexpensive too. We got dessert this time too! And now it's Update the Blog time! Then it's bedtime. Tomorrow we visit early again so we're going to try to go to the big mall between visits with our friend Catherine who is here waiting out the 10 days before picking up her new son Monday!
Bye for now!

I Guess It's Official!

First of today was a beautiful day in Astrakhan! And, lucky for us, the caretakers in the orphanage let us take advantage of it by letting us play with her outside! She was much calmer today, which was nice. She played on some of the play equipment, walked on a concrete 'balance beam' jumping off each time she came to the end of it, went for several walks around the building holding hands with me, sat on the ground and colored in her coloring book, played with the blocks I had brought, rocked the baby doll, etc.
We noticed how very concerned she was that her hat stay over her ears at all times, so on the second visit of the day when she got the baby doll out of my backpack she kept pulling down on the doll's hat to get it to cover its ears. She eventually pulled enough that the seam to hold the cuff of the hat up unattached and she could fold it down over the doll's ears. That made her very happy.
I had planned on giving her that doll today, but she kept putting it back in the backpack. In fact everything she gets out, gets immediately put away when she's finished, that is all but the coloring book. She loves the coloring book! Yesterday she colored in it a little, then just looked through it flipping the pages over and over start to finish, then back to start again. Today she did the same thing. She carried it with her on our walks, she held it while holding the baby doll, and only put it down if she was going to flip through it again. When it was time to go I tried to get her to put it in the backpack, she just wouldn't. At one point she even said, "Nyet!" to me and turned herself around holding the book to her chest. So....I let her keep it. Am I spoiling her already? I had the translator ask if she could bring it with her when we play again tomorrow in case she wants to color and they told me that yes, that would be OK.
When we first got to the orphanage this morning the director was chatting with our translator while we waited for her to be brought out. I found out from the translator that Sister was telling everyone in her group last night, "I have a Mama!" in a tone of voice that sounds like 'I have a Mama and you don't!" She reminds me of someone in our family. If you know us, you'll likely know who.
Galina and Vica from CHI took us to The Horseshoe for lunch. Oh my goodness, every meal I have here is better than the last! For lunch I had salad, borscht, (SO good and Vica is going to send me her recipe!) goulash (beef stroganoff in America, but a thinner sauce and oh, the best, best, best ever!) and blinis topped with (most likely homemade) ice cream and fresh berries. Oh, and freshly squeezed lemonade!!! WOW! Then we went back to either Camelot or Kreme Cafe (can't remember) for dinner with two other moms and one son. My dad had the turkey kabob and I had shrimp kabob. And for the second day in a row, the best banana cheesecake ever!
Tomorrow we are being picked up at 9:45 to go to the orphanage; that's a little earlier than usual, so maybe with more time inbetween visits we can do some more souvenir shopping. We hit one store today and each bought a few things, but really want to explore a little more and not buy everything from just one shop.
One last thing, I signed the 'Intent to Adopt' form today, so I guess it's official!

It's a Girl!

It's now Tuesday morning here, so I'll take some time to try to recap yesterday for everyone...
We didn't know what time our Ministry of Education appointment was until Vica (our translator) called at about 9:15 and asked if we could be ready by 10:10 for an 11:00 appt. At the MOE, my dad had to stay in the hall, I went in with Galina and Vica. I was asked why Wade wasn't here, what age child we were requesting and why we were requesting that age. I was a little nervous when she seemed to want a paper explaining Wade's absence, all I thought I needed was the Power of Attorney from him which I had. But, she eventually let it go and pulled out the information for our referral. She is in the age range we requested, her information given to me there was great and then I cried when I saw her picture on the screen! I composed myself, well until I saw my dad again who must've thought something was wrong, I had to get out "happy cry" so he'd understand. It was just like how I cried when I saw Ty's ultrasound picture! We rode to a couple places to get the permission to visit the child paper notarized, then went to the orphanage. There I met with three doctors; medical, teacher type, and social worker. I got A LOT of information and it was hard to get it all down and decide what I wanted to ask because halfway through they brought her out! She ran to Galina who told her to go see Mama and pointed to me (time to cry again) and she ran right to me and sat on my lap while I took notes! She loved the fish tank and kept pointing to it and saying the Russian for fish and big (It was a BIG fish, a catfish I think!) They told me some things that worried me at first, but from what I hear, it's typical to have stuff on the reports that scare American parents. But after meeting with her the two times yesterday I don't think we have anything to worry about. She is SO smart!!! I did get to send a picture to Wade and discuss everything with him so we could make a final decision to fill out the petition to adopt. I told him that Dad and I could probably list 20 things she did yesterday to make us say, "she's so smart!" so I tried; I got to 18, it was really late though, I bet if I tried again today I could get to 20! We're leaving in about a 1/2 hour to see her again, and will likely go again late afternoon-after her nap and snack. She is full of energy, loves to play, can throw and catch a ball!, has TONS of personality, hugs, kisses, is not shy; she'll fit right in with those boys of ours! Until next time.....

P.S. Hey 5th grade! I had SO MUCH FUN! Instant Messaging with you guys during computer class yesterday! I wanted to do it again during computers on Wed, but it just hit me that you're all off school Wed-Fri! So, enjoy your break, check the blog often, and e-mail me any questions you have to my school e-mail. Love, Mrs. W

Photos of Moscow

Hi! Mrs. K's first grade! Love, Flat J.

GUM mall, very, very, nice; very, very expensive.

Inside GUM mall

There was some kind of car race beginning, see the start sign in the background.
Our food! Dad's blinis and caviar in the background, my seafood in puff pastryshell in front. I loved mine, it had salmon, various shell fish, musrooms and onions in a cream sauce and the pastry shell was melt in your mouth good!

St. Basils' Cathedral

Notice the bride and groom in the picture; we saw at least 5 different wedding parties with their photographers taking wedding pictures in front of various buildings in the Red Square.

We're Here! part 2

We made it Astrakhan! Once again, everything went smoothly. The only trouble we ran into was when we went up to our room in the hotel, there was only one bed; but when I went and told them, they moved us to another room with two single beds and credited back 5, 600 rubles to my credit card! We met Catherine, a mom waiting out the 10 day waiting period right now, and Mandy and Jennifer, two moms who have each adopted a little boy from here and are now waiting for their boys' passports to take them home! They just went to get the boys' passport or visa photos taken. When they get back we may all go for a walk. We do not yet know what time our Ministry of Education appointment is, Galina was told to call MOE tomorrow first thing (9am) to find out what time our appointment is, then she will call us. It could be anytime from 10am to later in the afternoon. If it is later in the afternoon we may not get to go meet sister until Tuesday, so, of course I hope it is earlier, I was expecting to meet her tomorrow! The internet isn't working in the room, but there's a sitting area down the hall that's quite comfortable, so I suppose I'll sit out here a lot to update the blog and try to catch anyone on instant messenger.

We're Here!

We made it safely to Moscow. Out trip couldn't have gone more smoothly! Our flight from St. Louis to Atlanta left early and arrived early! And, our flight from Atlanta to Moscow was right on time. We found the translator, took care of tomorrow's tickets, exchanged dollars to rubles, bought bottled water, and went to Holiday Inn! Then we went to McDonald's for lunch! Yes boys, we went to McDonald's for lunch!!! It was crazy busy! But luckily Big Mac, fries and coke are all Big Mac, fries and coke in Russian too! Then we figured out the subway (metro) system and went to the Red Square! We toured St. Basil's Cathedral, saw many interesting buildings that we hope to find out more about later (we didn't have a tour guide or anything) went to two malls, HUGE malls with very expensive stuff, then to dinner at a restaurant we don't know the name of, but....We both tried caviar and blinis! The caviar tasted like tuna to me, I liked the flavor OK, but not the texture. The other meal we ordered was a seafood mix (salmon, clams, etc.) and mushrooms and onions in a puff pastry shell, it was SO good! Now we're at McDonald's again because they have free internet connections for 30min. and our hotel (across the street from McDs) makes us pay. So, all for now. Tomorrow at 8am (our time here) we head to Astrakhan. We'll try to update more then! PS to AstrakhanGrandma, we were given the phone numbers we needed when our translator picked us up at the airport so nevermind on the earlier phone call today. And, CHI gave us a cell phone to use! We only have 25 min, but we will try to call you and Wade sometime.

I FELT THE EARTHQUAKE!

I decided to stay up all night, sleep on the plane and then possibly be on Russia time when I get there. Well, around 4:30 I was typing lesson plans and the whole computer desk shook and shook, the monitor wouldn't stop until I held it still for a second, I swore it was an earthquake! I looked outside, but didn't see anything unusual, then looked up Missouri earthquakes on the internet to see if anything had been reported, but nothing was there, so I thought perhaps I had imagined it because I was tired. Anyway, just now on the news they announced that there was an earthquake in Indiana at 4:35, it WAS an earthquake, not my imagination! Hey kids, the book Earthquake Terror said that when Jonathan wanted to know how he would know if it was an earthquake or not his teacher said, "you'll know". And I knew! Pretty cool, huh!

Ready, Set, Go...

I think I'm all ready to go! Yesterday my fifth grade class (Hi guys, I miss you already and I'm still at home!) went on a field trip to Jefferson City. One of our stops was the museum at the Missouri State Highway Patrol. So while I was there I had planned to get our state background checks done, and notarized, since the ones we did last year had expired. When I asked the lady in the museum where I could get that done, she told me that it was in another building-go around that building and down a big hill, when down to street level again walk around the building to the public entrance. So I did, and they were very nice and did everything I needed. By the time I walked back up the hill I was pretty worn out and hot as it was over 70 for a change! Then I was ready to get 20 papers apostilled and our next stop just happened to be the capitol building! I looked up the Secretary of State's office number, room 209 and headed that way while the class went to sit in on the House of Representatives in action (for those who were wondering, there was another 5th grade teacher there and 22 parents, two of whom teach at our school as well, so we were all OK for me to take care of all the adoption business). When I arrived at the Secretary of States office a nice lady asked if she could help me. When I told her I had some things to apostille she told me that they did not do that in this building that that was (again) in another building. She pointed it out out of her window. It looked kind of far away, but not too far to walk to. I asked for directions and headed out. It was a much longer walk than I had anticipated, but I walked quickly and was sure I'd have enough time to get the things apostilled and make it back before the House viewing and capitol tour were over. Well, they told me it would take about 20 minutes, but at 30 minutes I went up to the front desk to see if they could check on the progress of the paperwork. I was told it would be five more minutes. It was five more minutes, but that meant it was 3:10, the time our group was expected to finish their tour and head back to the bus! So, I ran for about two blocks until it was so uphill that I just couldn't anymore and huffed and puffed walking as briskly as I could until I reached the capitol building again. I saw the bus to the left and picked up running again. Luckily, the class was not there yet; their tour had run over. But, everything is apostilled and ready to go for tomorrow's takeoff!!!
For those of you who are not in our church/school community, I'll share the remainder of the Jeff City trip story.... On our return trip, approximately 45 minutes away from our school, the smell of the bus' bathroom began to spread throughout the bus. My first thought was that a student had opened the door to be funny or something, but no, the radiator on the bus was overheating. The overheating radiator happens to be located just under the bus' bathroom. Its overheating began to "cook" the toilet chemicals. I heard that it was worse in the back, but I'm telling you, I was in the front and had to pull the turtleneck part of my sweater up over my nose. We rode like that for approximately 4 minutes before pulling off in a good spot that had a Walmart. We called spouses of chaperones and others who were expecting to meet us at school to come pick us all up and return us to school to our cars. One mom went to the Applebee's across the street and got us all chips and salsa (Thank you mom of 8W!), and one dad went to Walmart and bought a few cases of water(Thank you dad of 17W!). Then we all sat in the lawn furniture displays outside of Walmart eating our chips and salsa, drinking water, etc. until all were picked up. Hey mom of 10W, make sure I get a copy of that picture for the yearbook please! We were with a great group of kids with really nice parents, so it wasn't too bad. But it was a long day 7:30am to 7:30 pm for me!
I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M REALLY LEAVING FOR RUSSIA IN 10 HOURS!!!!

Photos

I thought I'd better try out adding photos to the blog before I leave home, so here goes......

Hey, that was pretty easy!

A lot of people have asked what her room looks like, so-here it is! It's impossible to get the whole thing, but the little bit of the dresser you see on the left has a matching chest of drawers on the wall beside the door. (This pic was taken standing in the doorway.) You can see a little bit of the matching nightstand by the rocking chair and the headboard that matches too. My grandma passed away a little over a year ago, right when we were first planning the adoption. I thought her bedroom furniture (and one of her favorite handmade quilts) would be perfect for our new daughter's room. I was right!

Misc.

After re-packing last night, I began re-packing again today as it was 75 in Astrakhan today! I took out sweats, a long sleeved shirt and sweat jacket and put in 3 short sleeved shirts, 2 pairs of shorts, and 2 pairs of capriis. But this messes up my "everything I've packed can be worn with either my tennis shoes I'm wearing on the flight or my brown shoes" thing, I usually wear sandals with shorts/capriis, maybe I'll buy some brown Crocs, they're very light.
I read somewhere to be prepared to answer questions during court about the recent Utah case where a boy recently adopted from Russia died. Today, while reading other blogs, I came across a YouTube link to this story, so I've included it here for anyone else headed to court soon that may need to know about it. Apparently, the father is a Russian citizen. Also, it was an independent adoption, they did not work with an agency. I guess the judge just wants to make sure that we're aware and keeping up on what's been happening in Russian International Adoption news. Anyway, it's pretty interesting; sad, but interesting.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxlbYK59EPc&feature=user

40 lbs.

Okay, I have decided that it is IMPOSSIBLE to pack less than 40 pounds for a 10 day trip. I didn't even weigh the suitcase after packing last weekend. Then tonight I decided that the weather in Astrakhan is warmer than I thought it would be, so I took out some bulky sweaters and such. Then, I cut down on things like the full bottle of shampoo, putting some in a smaller travel bottle, took out one pair (of the original 3) of PJs, took out a pair of sweats, and I believe 2 shirts. I also took out one (of the the 5) of the board books I packed to take to our visits with sister. I probably took out more that I can't remember just now, and then I weighed the suitcase.....33 pounds! The travel guide says that in-country you can only have 40 pounds of luggage, total-suitcases and carry-on. I then put the stuff I am intending to put in my carry-on in a bag and weighed that...5 pounds! And that's not including my laptop or the actual carry on backpack I'm taking. So, assuming that the laptop is at least 2 pounds, that's all I can take, which leaves no room for souveniers I buy while I'm there! Now, there's a TON of room left to put souveneirs in the suitcase, it's just that I'll be charged extra for being overweight. But, after venting about this to my husband, he simply said, oh well, then we'll just pay a few extra dollars for the weight of the souveniers, no big deal. Whewwwww! Because I AM planning on buying souveniers! :) Hello Mrs. K- yes, it's after 11pm and I am still up! (Oh C'mon, it's Friday!)

Thanks to all who have left comments! Yes, Patti, I am SO counting down the days!!! The other 5th grade teacher, Mrs. K, wrote 14 days 'till Russia in the corner of my whiteboard awhile back. Since then a boy in my class, 5W, has been changing it every morning-without being asked. Today it read 9 days 'till Russia!!! Hey kids who may be reading this while I'm gone...if I want to say something to you in the blog I'll refer to you as what you put in the top right hand corner of all your papers, for example 5W who changes the Russia countdown everyday as opposed to 5K who hates the word ginormous as much as I do! And remember you can comment (and vote) too!

Sister's First Scrapbook!

I'm so excited! A friend of the family, whose wife is from Russia (not far from Astrakhan in fact) just left. She was here translating the scrapbook I made to leave with sister in between our two trips. It turned out great!!! She took so much time to do it just right, even looked up words to be sure they would be in the right context, etc. I've decided I can't risk it getting lost when we leave it with sister, so I'm going to scan all of the pages and put them in another small scrapbook to take. It'll look just the same, but we'll have the original to save for her forever.

All My Checklists

What did I do this weekend? Made lots of checklists! A checklist of things to pack, a checklist of documents that still need to be attended to in some way, a list of meals for the next two weeks, a grocery list for those meals, a list of 'things to remember to take to school on Monday', a list of what my mom needs to do each day she's with the boys, and the beginning of a list for my substitute for my fifth grade class while I'm gone!!! Luckily, the grocery list has been all checked off, the packing list is quite close, the documents list is just where is should be to be finished in time, my mom's list changes daily as soccer rain out make up games keep coming in e-mails and baseball practices are 'maybe going to be on Mondays, but we're not sure yet', I remembered all but one thing I was supposed to take to school today (an empty milk jug!) and the sub list is about as far as it can be right now too. Seeing everything get checked off little by little helps me see that yes, this is really going to happen! I will meet my little girl two weeks from today!!! Yay!

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Hurry, Hurry, Hurry

Whewww, we've done a lot in a short amount of time. There has been a lot of last minute paperwork to do. We got fingerprinted at the police station yesterday and mailed that off to the FBI today. We have doctor appointments scheduled and paperwork being filled out at the boys' doctor's office. Today we got the 'official' travel dates of April 18th through April 27th so it's time to fill out Visa applications. All of this needs to be ready by my class' field trip to Jeff City on April 16 so I can get it all apostilled while we're there.
I know it's crzay, but I was a little disappointed to find out that I had to leave on the 18th; we thought I'd be leaving the 19th. The 18th the boys are in the talent show at school. They, and I, have worked pretty hard on putting the act together and I hate to miss it. It's also my fifth grade class' DARE graduation that day, another thing I wanted to be around for. Hopefully I can get someone to video both of these things for me.
So, be sure to log on every day from April 18-April 27 to hear about our trip to meet 'sister'! Thanks to all who have voted so far! Wade has picked out his favorite name and says that it doesn't matter how the vote turns out; Daddy's vote overrides all others. But keep voting anyway; it's fun for me to watch!