-So far so good on our goals. We've made flubber, she's been working hard on getting dressed, behaviors are coming along well, we've been counting everything in sight and she loves the book Chicka Chicka 1,2,3. I didn't even know they had a counting version of that book until this week! We made a trip to the Magic House which was a request of Oksana's. She went there on a school field trip and she said it was packed so she didn't have much fun. When you are a kid with limited mobility crowded places are not fun at all. I took her at more of an off time and we had a BLAST!
- I had to recommend this project that I found on Pinterest. They are sponge balls that you soak and go to war! We have had 2 sponge ball wars so far and they are SO fun!
-Evan competed in his first "real" horse show against other riders in the St. Louis area and did fantastic! He rode a pony named Reece and his best ribbon was second place!
- Our adoption paperwork is moving along. We mailed our I-800 and are waiting on our medicals to gather together our second stage paperwork and send it off to Bulgaria. I'm so excited and so nervous to get Anya home (see next bullet point) but we still have a very long wait ahead of us.
- I was reading my blog yesterday and had not even noticed that the last time I blogged about Oksana's behavior after coming home from Bulgaria was Monday after I sent her off to school. At that point everything had been great. About 2 hours after that blog I got a phone call from school and the whole week quickly went downhill after that. It was the worst week she has ever had at school. It was the last week of school and by Wednesday we almost just pulled her out and called it a year. The only reason we didn't is because she really wanted to be a part of the parade on the last day of school. Thursday and Friday she managed to pull herself together but literally made it through by the skin of her teeth. She talked a lot about Anya that week. Her fears, her concerns, etc. She had held it all together SO well while we were gone and even did good while she was with us but when she went to school she literally couldn't cope with anything. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am very concerned about her after Anya comes home. If this was what it was like when we didn't bring her home what will it be like when we do. To top it all off Anya will be coming home right after Oksana starts her first grade year. EVERYTHING will be new for her and she will be coping with that when Anya comes home. I'm not sure how the timing could be worse. Pray a lot...that's all I can do right now. Here are the pictures of the end of the year parade, which she did love! She couldn't walk the parade so we decorated her wagon and made it into a parade float!
In this picture we've spotted her but she hasn't seen us yet.
- Once she got out of school everything really settled down and she is doing great now. It showed me what a stress school is for her (as if I didn't already know that). So I'm working hard this summer on building our relationship and letting her have FUN. Next week is VBS and then after that she starts summer school. Not sure how I feel about that. Summer school is 4 weeks total. 2 weeks then a couple of weeks of a break and then 2 more weeks. The good news is it is only 1/2 day and I recently cancelled bus service since the bus even became an issue in the last couple of weeks of school. I figured if I can remove that stress it might help her to be more successful at summer school.
I think that just about covers it. Now I'm off for a day of pool and sprinkler fun!
3 comments:
Glad your summer is off to a great start. Sorry to hear of Oksana's stress issues. It's not fun, is it? If you can think of anything I can help with, I'd love to! And let's meet for a soda or something soon :).
I have lots of things to say in response to this post! :)
1. If you're interested in some more counting books for Oksana, one of my friends, Alison Formento, is a local (NJ) children's author and she wrote three counting books that are available on Amazon. You can see them here: http://www.amazon.com/Alison-Formento/e/B002OMGVQ4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1.
2. Those sponge balls are cool! I am definitely going to make some of these. In fact, I could have used some today because we don't have our air conditioning in yet and it was SO HOT in Jersey today!
3. Congrats to Evan on placing in the horse show! Those photos are awesome. :)
4. Sorry to hear about Oksana's stress issues, but hopefully the more relaxed summer schedule will help in that department. VBS is always fun (I used to go all the time when I was a kid), and I think it might be good for her that summer school isn't every day for a full day.
Hope you enjoyed your pool/sprinkler day today! :)
I would recommend "The House that Math Built" if you can find it. It is out of print so best of luck. It is full of 'games' that walk step by step through basic math skills.
It sound like she needs a very concrete introduction to teens and tens. The most concrete example for math that I know is Montessori.
It looks like you are near the St Louis area, so I recommend calling Children of Promise--Christian Montessori School and asking the directress for their homeschooling folder. It was put together several years ago as a service to the community and I think they have several left.
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