Hittin' the Wall

We've now reached the point where basic communication skills in English are fairly well established. We knew we rounded the corner the first time Kate yelled at David in English. Now, hearing one yell at the other in English is now a very common occurrence, but we still have a loooong way to go for fullest comprehension.

It's also interesting to observe how the communication tide has turned in the past couple months. Since Kate didn't have much of a background in English to start with, David had to do a lot of translating for her, at least in the beginning. However, she started learning new words more quickly and now does the same for him on occasion.

Our Franklin translator and pocket Russian-English dictionary still get a lot of use (and will for a long time), but what happens when the words start getting bigger and either a) the Russian-English dictionary doesn't have a direct transliteration or, b) you don't know the Russian word that it translates to?

Google translator does an outstanding job and Wikipedia has many articles in Russian, but we're occasionally running into completely new subjects with big and unfamiliar words... (we had a telescope project for Kate two weeks ago which ended up being quite a challenge!) Perhaps Homer Simpson put it best with his, "Doh!" 8-D

Both children are meeting the challenges with positive attitudes, and it's hard to believe we've been home just four months. Kate is now picking up English faster than David (granted, third grade doesn't have many big words, unlike fifth grade!) and David hates to see the big dictionary coming out because it means that "Pops" is going to start asking questions and he won't wiggle off the hook easily, especially if he has been trying to take a shortcut or two by guessing at words/meanings rather than looking them up.

While their vocabularies have been growing, so have their bodies. Since our first height measurements in October, David has grown a full 2 inches and Kate 1 1/2 inches (we've started marking the kitchen doorframe to keep track of "progress"). Thank goodness for children's clothing and uniform sales at church! Only a few items have worn out before being "retired," and those were due to rough and tumble play. The sad part is that the really nice court outfit and boots we got for Kate just four months ago no longer even comes close to fitting!

The good new is that the flowers and trees are all budding, the temperatures are heading back up and spring is just around the corner. We even noticed that daytime temperatures in Petropavlovsk even reached the 40's this past week! Soon it will be spring time there too.

Doctors, Dentists, Daffodils, and Snow!

Happy Spring and Happy Easter!

Life with two energetic kids sure is busier than we were used to. It's amazing how quickly the social calendar fills up, especially when we also have to balance such mundane things like doctor and dentist appointments and sports practices, all on top of homework and our own schedules.

Reflecting on our time in Kazakhstan, we are just as amazed today at what we can accomplish in a very short time, just as we were with what Masha could pack into our short visits to the RBS. It's definitely a tag-team effort that keeps us busy from 6 am 'til 9 pm.

We're finally finished with doctor's appointments and booster shots, at least until it's time for the next round of sports physicals. Still a few more dentist appointments to go though. Now that we're almost done with all the basic work, we're understanding that the kids thought the dentist was going to pull a lot of their teeth (at least the ones with cavities). We had joked about that, but didn't think that the kids thought we were serious, especially after their first appointments. Despite the misunderstanding, there was no fear or reluctance for them to go, another sign of their building turst. (For the last two months we have had a standing 4pm appointment on Tuesdays with the dentist).

In the few years we have lived in the Memphis area, we have noticed daffodils popping up around St. Valentine's Day, at least those on south-facing hillsides. This year was no different. February's several warm days led to a question: Does it ever snow in Memphis? Some mornings brought heavy frost, but nothing like they had been used to in Petropavlovsk. Although we said that it does snow sometimes, their serious doubt was plainly obvious. Friday March 7th erased that doubt.

A robin had to take shelter under the bushes while Bob took time to make several high-speed laps of the yard while enjoying the snow.

Also, Cathe got her long-awaited wish for a snow day, or at least half of a snow day.

Meanwhile, Kate and David took advantage of the storm to build a snow family, representing all of our family members, including Bob with his favorite purple ball. They even made sports versions of themselves, complete with basketball and baseball equipment!

Both David and Kate are participating in spring sports and doing very well. Although David had never played baseball, he is catching on quickly and has gotten a few hits. Kate is quickly catching on to the rules of basketball and has become a strong team player.

In addition to team sports, Kate won the first round of a basketball free-throw contest for her age category and only lost round two by one basket. We're very proud of her!

Last, but not least, we want to wish you all a very Happy Easter!