This Reminds Me

Archive for May, 2006

We played hooky from Sunday morning worship because we were worried about Julia handling a large crowd.  Instead, we enjoyed a nature walk as a family at the new Stone Oak Park.  Really lovely, and the perfect kind of morning for a walk – coolish and overcast.

“Why walk when you can skip?”, asked Hannah.  Keith replied “Uh-huh.”  I thought, “Flo and Flossie only skip when I’m running for the bus.”

While Rachel and I wisely stayed on the trail, Keith, Lois, Hannah and Julia set off through the weeds, cactus and rocks for the water retention dam.  When they reached it, I could see them waving and heard several calls of “Mom!” and “Mama,” those terms being synonomous with “chicken.”

Everybody needs a hand from time to time….

Natural Beauty – and Beauties

Okay, so we didn’t sing hymns, and we learned nothing from a sermon.*  But we still felt profoundly thankful to God for a beautiful morning together.

*But neither was I whispering, “Hush.  Don’t hit your sister again.  No, you can’t have gum.  Your head doesn’t hurt that badly.  Turn around.  It’ll be over when it’s over.  Try listening to the pastor.  Yes, that was Daddy’s stomach growling.  Be sure to come back from the restroom. ”

After 27 hours of too little sleep and too much caffeine, we made it home!

Julia became a U.S. citizen at this instant – when the American Airlines’ plane’s wheels touched the ground in Dallas around 3 p.m. Thursday.  She had finally fallen asleep around 2 p.m., after having been awake and big-eyed 20 hours.  We did not awaken her for the special moment.  As we left Moscow, she was singing a song about transportation with the word “machina” (car), “choo-choo,” and motor noises.   We had to stop at every window in the Moscow airport to look at the planes on the runways.

We carried her through the Dallas airport asleep, before boarding a Southwest jet home to San Antonio.  No, I did not carry Keith, too.  Our other option was to spend the night in Dallas and continue on American Airlines Friday morning – nyet!

Shelley and John provided a royal pick-up service at 8 p.m. Thursday evening, complete with red, white and blue flowers, and a banner greeting.  They even brought a dolphin toy for Julia.  Julia had no objection to being strapped in her car seat, and in fact, seemed to recognize “Mama’s machina” from the pictures we’d reviewed numerous times.

As we drove up the street, we pointed to the house saying, “Julia’s dom (house).”  Her eyes were too big already to tell if she understood or recognized it from the pictures.

We had warned Rachel, Lois and Hannah – No screaming, even “happy” screaming.  No loud noises.  No “rushing” Julia.  They greeted her sweetly and quietly.  I showed her around the house and pointed out many of the pictures we have scattered of her.  She didn’t make a sound.  My niece, Sarah, and her daughter, Laura, had been here all week, taking care of the girls and cooking some good ole American food for us.  Julia had eaten only a few bites all day and I was anxious to get something – anything! – in her.  A quick bath – some good buttered noodles for dinner – lots of rocking – and off to bed.

She got more sleep than we did on the planes, because she awoke bright and cheerful at 4:30 a.m.yesterday.   And other than one two-hour nap, she ran strong all day.  She went from room to room, bringing me objects to name and admire, and then carefully returning them.   She discovered the Polly Pocket motherload in the game room cabinets.  She looked at her clothes before making her selection.

She loved the slide at swings at the neighborhood park.  We went in the morning, before it got too hot.  She drank plenty of water.  I’m thinking Texas heat is going to be a shock to her system.  We’ll have to ensure she stays hydrated.

Rachel, Lois, and Hannah played Legos with her last night – big fun!

Four ‘Lil Woodworths – Finally!

I’m thinking Lois has lost her Sponge Bob cap….

Hannah and Julia are sharing a room with bunkbeds, though they slept in the bottom bunk together Thursday and Friday nights.  Hannah says Julia awoke at 4 a.m. today (I, alas, did not) to get a drink of water.  She returned to bed all chatty.  Hannah decided to teach her to count, using the bed slats above them.  Julia is now counting to six in English!  Yes, she is.  I know she can count at least 10 in Russian because she did it for us numerous times.  But we think counting to six in English so soon is pretty darned special.

This morning (Saturday) – Sarah’s Laura on the keyboard, accompanied by vocalists Hannah and Lois, and Julia dancing with a sash.  Sarah and Laura left at 9 a.m. to return to Houston; we miss them already. 

Julia discovered yesterday that she likes Cheerios.  They had told us that she didn’t like milk, but, in the orphanage, they boiled it (gross!)   I splashed some nice cold milk on her Cheerios; she liked that fine.  So I gave her half a cup, and she drank it.  This morning she had a bowl of Cheerios, and three small bowls of cantelope.  We know from Sarah’s good dinner last night that she also likes mashed potatoes and peas.  She didn’t care for strawberries, and wouldn’t try Sarah’s meatloaf

This morning – Hannah and Julia playing “dog.”  Enjoy it, girls, that’s the only “dog” allowed around this “dom”….

She loves balls – any kind of ball.  And she loves to bounce them!  Fortunately, we live in a cul-de-sac, because bouncing inside is “nyet.”  Again.  And again.

We sure appreciate the calls, emails and cards – be patient with us as we’ll be slow to respond.  In addition to getting Julia on a schedule (which does not include 4 a.m. wake-up times), Keith and I are also readjusting to CST.  Julia also has a round of dental, doctor and school appointments to complete this upcoming week, which is also the last week of school.  We sitll have a bushel of mail to go through, and the suitcases aren’t all unpacked.  Big kisses to Sarah for working on laundry all day yesterday.

It is so good to be home.  With ALL our girls.

Since we are planning to leave Russia tomorrow, we wanted to share a few views of Moscow.

A view of the local HEB’ski.  Keith, Julia and I have really enjoyed the variety of European cheeses and the Russian chocolate available.  Keith has been popping antibiotics for some chest crud so he’s been chowing a daily yogurt, too, which is full of fruit and grains.  We’ve learned to drink our Coca-Cola Light warm.

And what a view!  We’re thinking this bad boy may need some sweet, sweet $.97 tighty whities from Wal-Mart.

So, your kids want to view The Wild?  It’s been in theaters worldwide a month and on DVD here just as long.  Julia is watching it now – 100 rubles ($4) from a street vendor.  Let’s just say it was sans – ummm – all that silly plastic wrapping.

A view through a window at our favorite Russian fast food being made – huge, folded-over thin pancakes filled with most anything.  We’ve had ham and cheese, mushrooms, apples and caramel, honey, butter, mystery meat – all good.  The batter is poured on griddle #1 and butter-brushed before flipping to griddle #2 for filling.  Then it’s folded over into a multi-layered triangle and served piping-hot, wrapped in paper.  About 50 – 75 rubles ($2 – $3.)  Food is very expensive here; we’ll walk a long way to find one of these vendors.  Fooz-naw! (tasty)

A view from the floor of Mikhail D’s. (Yes, Keith was embarrassed and walked away.)  Russian women put Imelda Marcos to shame.  You’ve never seen such spiky-healed footwear.  I’d be in the hospital if I tried walking in their shoes on these uneven, cobbled streets.  Keith and I speak in code when there’s a pair worth a google – “SA” – “Stiletto Alert.”

Finally – Miss Julia’s favorite view from any street in Moscow.

Dos Vadanya!  We’ll e-speak again from SA Town.  I am clicking my (stiletto-less) heels together right now….there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home……

Russia, known as the Slavic Motherland.  Russia, known as the Bear.  Russia, known as CCCP.

We think….Russia, known as “Hurry Up and Wait.”

How many times have you said, “I can’t wait.”  Well, if you were here, you sure could.  Because there’s often nothing to do except wait.

Yesterday we hurried up….and waited for Julia’s travel documents to be processed at the American Embassy.  Today her documents were hurried to the Russian Embassy, where we now wait…wait…wait for them to be sorted, stamped, stapled and stacked before we can leave the country.  We’re supposed to retrieve them tomorrow evening, and we’ll be able to leave Thursday morning.  We’re still not sure which day we will arrive home. We may or may not have to spend Thursday night in
Dallas (groan.)

When we lounge around a small hotel room with an even smaller but highly energetic six-year-old, well, the view often looks like this.

So sore-shouldered Keith decided we were going sight-seeing, this time along Arbor Street, an eclectic mix of shops, statuary, kiosks and kooks.  Arbor Street was once home to the famous Russian poet, Aleksandr Pushkin.  Several statues memoralize life and work, including this one of him and his wife, Natalya.   “In 1837, falling into greater and greater debt amidst rumors that his wife had started conducting a scandalous affair, Pushkin challenged her alleged lover, Georges d’Anthès, to a duel which left both men injured, Pushkin mortally. He died two days later.” Or, in the immortal words of Mae West, “She done him wrong.”

Julia has one art appreciation criteria – Can it be climbed?

Tomorrow we are sticking close to the hotel room, sorting through laundry (Clean enough to wear home?  Did something die in that shirt?  Why is it sticking to the hangar?) readying tickets and passports, stuffing plane snacks and “sock” (juice) boxes in our carry-on, etc.

We know we can’t say, “We can’t wait to see Rachel, Lois and Hannah” – because we have to do so.

But Russia – We can sure think it.