Waxing Poetic and Thinking Back

Happy September 26th!


Ok, so it's not a holiday for everyone, but it is a significant day for our family: One year ago today, in fact exactly as today's entry is coming together, we were at the Memphis airport boarding our 7:25pm flight to Amsterdam, the first leg of our trek to Kazakhstan.

Where did September go? With the days getting shorter, there is less time in the evening to do outdoor stuff. Between soccer practice and Boy Scouts, we have activities three evenings a week. Last weekend and this weekend we have soccer games both Saturday and Sunday (at least there is only one game each day this weekend!).


Academics have been a challenge this month. Both children are doing very well overall. Unfortunately, they are good at giving the impression of full comprehension even when they're not 100% sure what they're supposed to do. Thank goodness our school uses Ed-Line so we can keep up with assignments, even when our two forget to write everything down. Whenever we get a little frustrated with having to repeat instructions, all we have to do is think back to when Stephen was their age to realize that they are 100% normal, especially when it comes to using the dictionary (they would rather try to guess the meaning of a word than break out the big book, but usually end up looking up the word anyway...). Their grasp of English and the rate at which they're learning is absolutely amazing.

One of the things Bill added to our blog while in Kaz was "The Morning Weather Report" since so many people were asking what it was like in Petropavlovsk (all the pictures of people in heavy coats with hats and gloves should have been the first clue...). Anyway, we added Petropavlovsk as one of the weather sites on our msn page, along with Baghdad since Scott (our house and Bob-sitter during our time in-country is over there for a few more weeks). Back to the weather: it's interesting to note that yesterday, Sept 25th, the length of daylight in Perto and TN was both 12 hours. Back in June the days in Petro were almost 18 hours long but soon they'll be MUCH shorter.

Apryl Brock has been sending us a few pictures of David and Kate's friends. The Antares Foundation which helps provide support for the North Kazakhstan region orphanages has been very active this fall and has several events they're working on. We helped support the Back-to-School efforts. They're also working on a Siblings Reunion activity to bring children together for a day when they are placed in different orphanages (Hilton and Suzanne have provided some great support for that effort!). Be sure to visit the Antares blog at: http://antaresorphans.blogspot.com/


During our trip, we came to enjoy the "For Men" chocolate bars. Despite instructions to keep out of the hands of women, Bill did share. We also heard about the "Women's Ice cream," but never found it. Here it is!


What about Bob? He was at home, sadly laying in his bed, waiting for us to come home with his new children... He's much happier now!

Where did the Summer Go?

Wow! September! Where did the summer go????

Although we are in no way complaining about the Memphis temperatures getting back to a more humane range, we sure could use some more summer. It just seems to go a lot faster than it did when we were children. Fortunately there is still a weekend or two to get in a little more swimming before it gets too chilly.

School started August 18th, but Cathe had to be back on the 11th to begin setting up her classroom and attend all the requisite meetings. This year, setup was a little more stressful since her classroom had been painted and new carpet installed so she couldn't start early. David and Kate wanted a few more days off, but were very excited about getting back to school and seeing their friends. They also have been following the Antares Orphans blog (http://antaresorphans.blogspot.com/) to see what their friends back in Petropavlovsk are up to. (Monday September 2nd was their first day back at school). And there is no escape from school uniforms!

Summer was also a time for many visitors. In addition to Masha, Svetlana, Katya, and "the younger Masha," Cathe's sister and niece visited from Michigan, Hilton, Suzanne and Darryn visited from Richmond, Virginia, and Paul came from Baltimore, Maryland. It was a busy time for us, but nothing compared to the very busy schedule "The Masha's" maintained while trying to visit as many families as possible. This past summer was also an opportunity to grow more as a family and for David and Kate to further prepare for school. No time to be bored!











Now that school has started, so has fall soccer. Both our athletes are off to a great start with their teams winning their first games today. However, Kate almost didn't make the starting line-up. Since she was in such a hurry this morning, Kate grabbed the first two cleats she found in her size. Unfortunately, only one was for soccer. (We recently learned that softball/baseball cleats aren't allowed for soccer since they have an "extra" cleat in the front). Fortunately, we were early and there was enough time for "Pops" to run home and pick up the misplaced soccer cleat.

As Paul would say, in his most Homer Simpson-ish voice: "Doh!"

In addition to keeping busy, both David and Kate have been busily growing. Each month we have been marking the kitchen door frame as they grow. But all the growth isn't just in height. On the top is one of Kate's new shoes from last October. We bought them a half-size large so they would last. The bottom shoe is one of Kate's new PE shoes, also just a half-size large for her current foot size. We hope it lasts until the spring semester!

This month has also been a nostalgic one for us as parents since we have been thinking back on what we were doing just one year ago "today." We had just worked out our travel dates and tickets and Bill made one more trip up to Nashville to have another set of documents apostilled.

What does any of this have to do with the two pictures to the left? Well, that's a very special tree for us. Our "stick tree" started as a volunteer in one of our flower beds about the time we made our decision to pursue adoption in 2006. In March of 2007, Bill transplanted it to the front yard. At that time it was about as tall as a broomstick and had no branches. By the time we left for Kazakhstan, it was about 7 feet tall and had some stubby branches. Now it is at least 10 feet tall and filling out nicely. (All the prayers and fertilizer are having the same affect on our tree as they have had on the children).

So, as the summer winds down, we are still on the look-out for fun things to do. Two weekends ago, the Animal Planet Expo visited Shelby Farms while Paul was visiting. Both our youngsters made their "fashion statements": Kate in her typical "easter egg" colors, and David wearing a "homework protest shirt" advising teachers to save trees by reducing the amount of homework (thus paper). He has such a great sense of humor! Too bad it won't save him from homework!