Day 8 - Sunday, 13 August, 2006

Sunday dawned bright and early; the Niles family rose and departed EARLY for church. We arrived in time to meet the Maxwell family on the way in. Rachel and Masha checked in and stayed together for children's church; Mark and I sat with Becky and
Eric for a great message on faithfulness. Sometimes God whacks one over the head with a board...the message was about how it's not our job to figure out how the Lego pieces of our lives fit together, it's just up to us to be faithful and trust that God's plan is the right one for us.

After church, Masha and I got the Sunday paper and went through all the ads. She showed me what she liked and what was not hip at all. Armed with this valuable information and a list written by Masha, we trekked out to Kohl's where everything is always on sale.

As previously mentioned, Masha is quite the shopper. Before long, my arms were filled with innumerable items for the fitting room. Every item that landed on the pile was accompanied by a toothy smile, batting eyelashes, and "pleeeeease?"

Once in the fitting room, we quickly organized the discoveries and established "Yes," "No," and "Maybe" piles for everything that was modeled. There were a few clear "Nyet" items, including a very inappropriate camisole top and a couple of things that were just plain too big.


The "Maybe" pile grew quickly, especially when Mark continued to collect new items and pass them to us over the door of the fitting room! We ended up surrounded by t-shirts, jeans, a couple of skirts, shorts, bathing suits, and one really ugly dress. Paring it all down to one reasonable "yes" pile was agonizing, and resulted in several heavy sighs, a couple eye rolls, and very pouty lower lip, but the parents held firm!

Before checking out, we surveyed the selection of photo albums. Mark gave Masha a choice of three different pink photo albums, each holding 200 photos with room to write beside each one. We lit up when Masha chose one that was bright pink with "Family" embroidered on the front. Then she wandered over to another area adn remembered the girl's perogative to change her mind. She selected an ivory wedding album, with a small ribbon. Go figure!?!?

The final stop at Kohl's was the jewelry department, where Masha found a set of three pairs of earrings in preparation for the scheduled Ear Piercing Extravaganza coming up on Tuesday night. We called a translator to make sure that Masha understood that even if we bought these earrings, she would still have to wear the starter studs for a few weeks while her ears healed. We also explained that she might find earrings she liked better at another store, but she had her heart set on these. Fortunately, they were half off!!

She asked for a makeup kit on the way out, which was met with another firm "Nyet!" I'm not quite ready for this sweet little girl to be a teenager! Give me at least another week!!

We headed home, tidied up the house a bit, and then Masha worked on filling up her photo album for a little bit. Around 3:00, the Felgers arrived bearing a vanload of kids and food! Gary and Dawn used to work with Mark at Central Soya, and have adopted four beautiful children from Ukraine. Through the course of this adventure, we have gotten to know them much better and we take a lot of advice and inspiration from this amazing family!

Even after lending a supply of Barbie dolls and a bike for Masha to ride during her stay, Hannah brought MORE Barbies with her today. The girls played ball for a while, then grabbed the camera and took pictures all over the house before heading up to Masha's room to play Barbies. Everyone pitched in to prepare a summer dinner of burgers, salad, and corn on the cob.

Farm chores called, and the Felgers bit us good night...Little did I know that I was about to experience my first real "Mom Moment." I looked up from the kitchen into the family room to see a bright orange soccer ball flying through the air. Now, Masha is pretty coordinated, but the ball was just a little too close to several things that could break! Mark failed to see the risk, but I put my foot down. There will be no hurling of soccer balls around my family room...period! They changed course and began balancing on the soccer ball instead. I have to say I'm glad I didn't see that!!!

Day 7 - Saturday, 12 August, 2006

Mark and I got up early, Mark mowed the lawn and I worked a bit. When Masha got up, she went downstairs. Mark and Masha went to the store to get milk and a couple other things. They took Simon with and then put breakfast together when they got back. Masha brought me a handful of fruity cheerios and asked me if I wanted a bowl.

After breakfast, we did a few chores around the house…got laundry started, cleaned out the pond, and Masha learned how to use the pressure washer…she wrote her name on the driveway with it!

After the chores, we went over to Becky & Eric’s to swim and play. Masha got the camera on the way over and took about 100 photos on the 10 minute ride. She is either going to be a model or a photographer….or BOTH!

Once we got there, the kids immediately hopped in the pool, but quickly discovered that the water was very very cold! After a quick lunch of mac & cheese up in the playset, they all ran inside to play Barbie for a while. Before we left, they also got in several games of alphabet Go Fish in the play tent. Eric and Mark were able to get Masha to say Rhinoceros in English!!

We made it home just in time to meet Khrystyna and her host parents Lisa and Fred. Masha and Khrystyna played in the yard for a bit while the adults chatted, and then we all headed over to the Leo-Cedarville park to play on the amazing playground. The girls had a great time, while the adults hung out. Brats and hot dogs all around, and tons of playtime.

All was well until time to go. Khrystyna was having none of it, and threw a bit of a fit. Any time any of the adults tried to touch her or talk to her, she cried louder and pulled away. Masha was tremendous, and helped Khrystyna up and into the car. As soon as we got home, Masha asked to call Khrystyna. We gave them some time to get home, then the girls talked on the phone for about 40 minutes or so. Masha gave her an overview of the schedule for the next few days, and they chatted about pretty much everything. By the time they were done, Khrystyna was doing much better.

Masha drank a cup of tea, took a shower, and then we watched a few Schoolhouse Rock videos and crashed.

Day 6 - Friday, 11 August, 2006

Friday morning, Mark and I both needed to catch up on a little bit of work, so we explained via the online translator. Masha gobbled up a bowl of Raisin Bran (her request!) and then played for about an hour on her own while we both made phone calls and replied to emails.

Today’s schedule called for us to all meet up at Science Central at 10:00. Although we were there for only 2 hours, the kids really packed a lot in. They crawled through a “dark” room where it was pitch black—dark enough that Mark used the camera flash to find his way through! Centrifugal force came to life on a spinning wheel, and the Moon Walk allowed them to feel nearly weightless, like they were on the moon.

That afternoon, camp was visited by the Vice-Consul from the Ukranian Embassy, who checked in on the kids and the program. The kids played games, participated in an ESL class, and assembled jungle picture frames.

Immediately following camp, Masha, Mark, and I picked up Natalia and Maxim for dinner at our house. Natalia is the Assistant Director and Child Psychologist at the orphanage where Masha lives. Maxim is the son of the Director, and is serving as the Offical Translator for the group. We got to know them, had a wonderful time, and gained a little more insight into Masha’s background and life at the orphanage. Natalia is a wonderful, warm, and caring woman, and these kids are so important to her. She and her staff are doing GREAT work in Ukraine!!

After we dropped Natalia and Maxim off, we took Masha out for ice cream! The kind folks at The Scoop on Dupont allowed her to try several different choices of ice cream. She started with Strawberry Cheesecake, and each new flavor tried became the new favorite. She finally settled on Cotton Candy! And when offered a choice of cake, sugar, or waffle cone, which do you think she chose??

Day 5 - Thursday, 10 August, 2006

This morning was a little more organized, and I was up and showered before Masha woke up….after about 3 hours sleep on the basement couch.

After taking care of a bit of work and making sure that everything was covered, Masha and I got some breakfast (OK, Masha got Rasin Bran – her choice – and I got a vat of Starbucks House Blend). Mark, Masha, and I packed up and headed out the door, with a stop by Becky’s to pick up Masha’s swimsuit.

After ESL and a craft, we all headed out to Fox Island County Park, where one of their naturalists showed us all up by knowing more Russian than all of the host parents put together (OK, well, that’s an exaggeration….but she knew some good phrases!). She let the kids all pet a variety of animal pelts and learn the English words for them. After the presentation, everyone posed for photos before heading down to the lake for a cookout and swimming.

Thunder and a little lightning threatened, and put an end to the water fun. Masha and Khrystyna had some fun with changing….Masha grabbed her top and pants, but failed to take her panties. Khrystyna decided that panties were all she needed, and failed to take her pants and top. Between the two of them, they make up one full outfit and one naked child! I think Khrystyna would have volunteered, but her Mom had a VERY different position on the matter! (Sorry, Lisa!!)

When rain and mosquitos finally drove us out of the park, we all headed back to camp to regroup. Families gradually drifted back home while the last few kids hung out and played Clifford ABC Bingo. Once they all got the hang of it, they had fun trading places as the caller and writing the English alphabet on the board and doing the Bingo Dance each time someone filled a line on a card. And Bingo didn’t mean the end of the game…these girls knew how to keep a party going!

On the way home, we stopped off at Wal-Mart to pick up some printed photos, and popped into the pet store. Masha did not seem terribly impressed by the bunnies, but we picked up a bone for her to give to Simon. He loves it! After that, we stopped into the dollar store. Masha picked up a little cell phone, some sparkly barrettes, and a big tub of foam ocean animal stickers. Yes, stickers. We are inexperienced at this parenting thing!

We arrived home to a new bit of drama. Before we left camp, Masha and Khrystyna had come up with a plan for each of them to take one of Khrystyna’s walkie-talkies and to talk on them from home. They were pretty disappointed when that didn’t work, but a nice long phone call solved that problem and brought Masha out of her funk.

After the call and a little recovery time, Masha came downstairs. Mark found a virtual Cyrillic keyboard online, and Masha was able to type out a question to me. We pasted it into a translator tool, and communication was made! Masha asked if we would be going back tomorrow to “the place where Natalia and Maxim are”…Day Camp. I was pleased to answer “Da.”

After that, she said she was ready to eat, and scarfed down a loaded taco (complete with guacamole and LOTS of sour cream) and some Mexican rice. After dinner, she watched a short Veggie Tales video and headed up to her room. She asked to play a little in her room before bed, and since it was a little early we agreed. Bad move. The armoire in her room is now coated with foam stickers that we got at the dollar store. Not sure whether to praise her for doing such a great job or punish her for trashing the furniture…..Since we didn’t tell her not to do it, I guess I can’t say a while lot other than “Let’s not have any more of this putting stickers on furniture business!” But we both knew she was special when our ultimate reaction was “She did a really good job!”

She also raided my teddy bear collection, and rearranged the contents of her room. It took a little cajoling and a kind but firm Russian “Bed. Now.” And she hit the sack by about 9.

Day 4 - The Birthday Party - Wednesday, 9 August, 2006

Day camp began today! Following a breakfast of oatmeal with raisins, we departed on time for camp. Imagine it….the Niles family on time for something? The only problem was that I forgot both her sunglasses and her sack lunch! Oooops!

Once everyone arrived, Anna got everyone together to get to know each other. As a combination ESL and introduction, all the kids sat in a semicircle and introduced themselves. The Ukranian kids had to say “Hi. My name is…. What is your name?” and then the other kid replied “My name is …” and then go introduce themselves to the next kid. The American kids got to do it in Russian! Masha had it down right away, and she worked hard at helping the little ones.

Mark and I hung out for a little while, met several of the other parents, and talked with the program director. Around 10:30, we went back home and worked for the afternoon. The kids had a pizza party and then went to the Botanical Gardens. Based on the photos generously provided by Khrystyna’s mom, the girls had a lot of fun, despite the report that they would have rather gone back to one of their houses to play!

At the end of the day, I arrived a little late to pick Masha up and she sure let me know it! Further, I forgot to bring her sunglasses….this made me America’s Most Wanted! After a very quiet ride home, we reviewed the previous day’s photos before Mark got home and we headed out to O’Charley’s for Masha’s first American restaurant dinner.

Dinner was another challenge. After spending the day laughing and playing with her friends, Masha was not thrilled to be back with us and unable to communicate. We think it was just frustration, but she sulked pretty much from the time I picked her up from camp. She didn’t loosen up until we got to Becky and Eric’s for dessert, where she headed straight out to the playset, and it was like nothing had ever happened!

The kids all played until dusk, and then came in for birthday presents and a beautiful princess cake and all was well. We got home around 10:00 and all three of us shot straight to bed…no work, no blog. We’ll just be that much more behind tomorrow!