Katya Continues to Amaze Me ! ! !

We took Katya to school yesterday. She is soooooo.. amazing ! ! !
I would have been crying and whining; not to mention freaking out. But not Katya, she was pretty cool through it all. We had to get her schedule from the guidance office, because we registered her late. We then had to take her to her Home Room. None of her teachers were aware that they were going to have a non-English speaking student in their classes named Katya Schmitt. And to top it off we weren't going to be able (because of time) to tell any of them, except her Home Room teacher; who assured us that she would have someone help her get to each class. We had to trust that they would do what they said. When we hugged her and said good bye, she "kinda" smiled with this look that said "I'm scared, but it will be okay".
I went away from the school with a huge respect for her inner strength and self-confidence!!!
Beverly called me at work after she picked Katya up at 3:45pm. EVERYTHING WENT FINE ! ! ! There were a few things that went wrong; like two girls making fun of her because she can't speak English; she fell and broke one of her neckless chains; she got confused in the cafeteria and her teacher had to help her know where and what to do next. All in all, it went well and she was in a good mood.
Yesterday evening we had a bunch of paperwork to read and forms to sign; plus another trip to buy more supplies.
Our day ended just the way the previous one did; with a battle to get her in bed. She knew she needed to be in bed by 10:00pm, but went right up to the wire and hadn't even taken her bath by 9:55pm (daily baths were never a part of her orphanage life). It ended with us having to "tell" her to get to bed, which caused her to do her complaining in Russian and slamming her bedroom door. I can't figure out what is up with everything going just fine until the last minute of every day ! ! !
Well, our wonderful Ukrainian friend Yulia is coming over tonight and the evening will be fill with explaining to Katya the school "classroom expectations" and trying to set up house rules, and what behavior we expect from her. I hope it doesn't come off as a "dump on Katya" event.
I'll let ya know how it goes.

Off to SCHOOL ! %&((_*&$$#

This past weekend has been a good one. Katya is adjusting to family life here in the US. She is also making a circle of friends. There are some awesome young girls (ladies actually) that have made Katya feel so welcome and loved. There is Tori, whose house she stayed at Saturday night with two of Tori's friends; Hannah and Jackie. She had a great time.

Then there is our granddaughter, Mariah (almost 14). She spent Sunday night with Mariah and her younger brother Josh.

On Friday when we registered Katya in Middle School, Ana came and translated for Katya and me. She has such a sweet and gentle spirit about her that Katya felt at ease. Katya didn't want Ana to go when we dropped Ana off at her house.

Last night things went well preparing for school. When Katya saw the supplies and other things we bought for school she actually started getting "into" it ! ! ! She started sorting pencils and pens and packing them in her backpack. She took a shower and let Beverly blow dry her hair.

Everything went well UNTIL she had to go to bed (I think it was nerves actually).

She was up on her own this morning and even cooked her own eggs and meat (hot dog).

We are sitting here waiting for the time to roll-out.

I'll post again about how the first day went.

Oh I forgot to mention sweet Paulina. She translated on the phone yesterday about what the school rules are and what to expect. Paulina has one of those sweet calming natures too.

Out for now.....

High School or Middle School, that's the question!

Things are going really well so far with Katya. I haven't gotten much sleep and have been in constant motion, but it has been great. The real test comes next week when school starts. Katya already is saying "no" to school. She tells me that, but I can tell she knows there is no choice. That's where the question begins. She is 14 so we have a choice of sending her to HS or MS. After back and forth and weighing all the pros and cons, we have decided to send her to MS. It is a much less risky choice. At least that's what we have decided for the moment. We have to decide today, because school starts Tuesday. I am set to leave this morning to register her. I have to break the appointment I have with the HS and try and get one with the MS. I'll blog later and say how it turned out.
Back to Katya. Her first week has been a whirlwind. She swam at a pool and her sister Lisa's house (4 hours straight). Shopped for and bought a new bike. Played video "Cars" racing games. Eaten different food (she tried and likes lasagna). Went to church. Had her friend Paulina and Lisa's stepdaughter, Mariah, spend the night. Learned how to play the board game "Sorry", and is good at it.
I can't help to think all the time how the whole course of her life has changed. I just hope Beverly and I have it in us to raise her to be the women she can be to meet her full potential.
She is an awesomely sweet girl. She loves riding a bike and we have done tons of that this past week. She makes friends so easily and doesn't seem to shy away from hanging out or playing with kids she just met.
Well, gotta go and convince her to take a shower before we leaave..........

They're Home ! ! ! (and life begins anew for us)

Beverly and Katya arrived safely Friday night. This picture shows Katya with four of her friends that also were adopted this past year from Uglegorsk. They all were there to greet her at the airport. Katya cried a lot ! ! !

It has been a crazy three days so I haven't been able to post until this morning.

I need to go to work, but will hopefully post more real soon. There is lots to tell. Katya is doing well, and Beverly is recovering from being away from home for a month.

IN ROUTE PICTURE ! ! !

This was downloaded from Delta's website at 8:30am EST. Very cool....

YAY ! ! ! They are on their way HOME!!!

Beverly called me around 11:15pm EST tonight from the airport, and said they had tickets and were going to board the plane for the first of 3 legs home. First they fly to Paris France, then on to Atlanta, and finally on to Norfolk; HOME ! ! !
Beverly says that Katya doesn't show any sign of being afraid of flying. Beverly thinks Katya is fearless ! ! ! And she likes to be IN CONTROL ! ! ! Oh boy, Beverly isn't going to like that if it continues here in the USA. Even after getting their tickets, Katya was looking them over to determine where they were supposed to be (i.e. gate). I think some of it (at least my thought) is that Katya knows Beverly can't speak Russian and Katya feels like she has to take care of Beverly. What do you think? Oh well, we'll see how in control she feels in Virginia Beach ! ! !
I'm up late, because I needed to clean the house and grocery shop. It has been a long time since I bought that many groceries. Usually buying for Beverly and I is fairly minimal and one day at a time. Things are DIFFERENT NOW! ! ! I even bought ice cream ! ! ! I haven't bought ice cream just to have in the house in I so long I can't remember when it was. I think I'm going to gain weight ! ! !
I made an appointment with the guidance counselor at Cox HS for next Monday. We'll see how it goes. I have a feeling we aren't going to have all the paper work they will want. At least all of it translated into English. It would be nice to get her registered so she can start the first day of school, but if it doesn't happen, the world won't stop rotating.
Well, I'm fading again, and I do have to work tomorrow (YUK).
TOMORROW ! ! ! !; they will be HOME TOMORROW ! ! !

Counting hours now instead of days ! ! !

48 more hours ! ! ! Yeah..................
Beverly called this morning and said they went to the US Embassy. She accomplished some of the work, but not all. It turns out that the facilitators in Kyiv didn't realize Beverly and Katya are booked on an early morning flight Friday. They didn't have all the paper work translated yet, so she has to go back tomorrow.
They are staying in the same apartment I stayed in my last days there. It isn't in a convenient location and you have to walk a fairly long way to get to the underground mall or Friday's restaurant. Getting to either of those places requires going underground, because there are no pedestrian crosswalks at the street intersections. I did alright myself, but I'm an architect and kept my bearings underground. Hopefully Katya will keep Beverly from getting lost. Beverly worried about going down in the mall, because there is an Internet place on the lowest level, and she was afraid Katya would seee it and want to stay there for hours.
I took today off from work and worked on getting Katya's room ready. I started last night rearranging furniture and didn't get to bed until 1:00am. I also took time to call the school to make an appointment to meet with a guidance counselor. They told me I would have to wait and call tomorrow, because they haven't started making appointments for next week yet.
I'm starting to fade.... so I'm closing for now, but please pray for a smooth exit from Ukraine and safe and timely flights ! ! !