Jonathan needs a haircut, or a makeover. 
Sasha wants a bowl cut, if anything.
The boys speak to each other in Russglish. This means we can play language games! For example, a sandwich in German and in Russian sounds like "butterbrot." (Be sure to roll your r's.) At lunch one day, Sasha proclaimed that the last piece of bread on one loaf looked like a boat. I called it a butterboat. Sasha got it. Did you? Likewise, English words are now Russified and conjugated. Instead of us saying, "Wash your hands, and stop giving your beans to the dog" the boys police each other: "Vash your gands, e no beansu dogu!"
Well, we had our first visit to the hospital last Friday evening :( Jonathan fell off the playground equipment and had a long deep gash on his head. I carried him home, Pam and our nurse neighbor Heidi cleaned him up a bit, then we took him in. He was brave, but I think the sight of a needle will cause him to recoil now. They gave him a nice green stuffed animal to distract him, and we used it to sing silly songs like: “Five little monsters jumping on the bed. One fell off and bumped his head. Momma called the called the doctor and the doctor said, 'No more monsters jumping on the bed!'” (Count down and repeat, louder each time. The last time should be ear-piercing.) It took 12 stitches to pull together a 6 cm cut. By the end he was smiling again, and the nurse said he would be a charmer. He told each one “Thank you” before we left. So the next day they sent him a satisfaction survey. As soon as we got home he had to tell Sasha all about it. Although I'm not sure what all he said, it sounded very dramatic, like he should be honored with a Soviet medal. Then they took their first shower. I know what you’re thinking. Not true--they have had baths.
We learned from Orest that Sasha remembers days when he and his grandfather went fishing together. Once Sasha saw pictures of lobster and crab and said, “Yummy!” We asked how he knew those foods, and he said his grandfather brought them. We shared these stories with Pam’s parents. They wish to honor those memories, so they gave fishing poles to the boys. They tested the poles at home and caught tree branches. Our neighbors have frogs in a small pond. They have not caught the frogs--yet. I decided long ago that fishing is for the flies. I am as dumb as a walleye about good fishing spots or techniques, so I asked Ivan and Ekaterina to call us next time they went fishing. Memorial Day weekend was wonderfully warm, and we went to a picnic at a nearby lake with the Tereshchenko family. We had shashlik and torts too and we went swimming in the lake, which was fun. Each also caught their first fish, small little white perch. They carried their poles with the fish dangling from the end of the line for 10 minutes, showing everyone their catches. They take awhile to clean, so I’m glad they didn’t catch more!
One Sunday in May, after church services in Seward, I brought Sasha and Valera to Inna’s church in Lincoln. This is one of several churches in Lincoln where Russian-speaking people meet to worship. The people are very gracious, and we know a good number of them already, having attended quite a few weddings and other events over the years. I wanted the boys to know about these friends. It is also important for them not to lose their ability to speak and hear adult Russian. The service began with beautiful singing by Inna and two other girls. Inna's husband Ivan controlled the music and video electronics. Sasha is a good reader even now, so he sang with everyone. Valera likes to sing also, but mostly he likes to make us laugh. He smiles all the time. After the singing, the younger children move to the basement for classes while the pastor speaks with the adults. Sasha is not shy—he went right down and joined a class of students he had never met before. Valera went for a little while, then came back and stayed with me. Afterwards we went to a Russian grocery store, owned by one of the members, and the boys loaded up on pelmeni, caviar, and stale KGB truth serum--for their dad.
The boys are very athletic. Sasha can do handsprings and gymnastic jumps. Valera dances well also, as we saw him perform at the Detsky Dom in Kramatorsk for International Women’s Day. The boys love to ride scooters in our driveway, and sometimes on Concordia's campus--when there aren't many students around. Our neighbor Anna, who is 7, likes having friends to play with. She's great with them, and shares her smaller bike. I didn't get to teach Sasha how to ride. Dolores said Anna explained it once, he put on a helmet and rode away. So now they beg for bikes. We are trying to use bicycles as an incentive for them to save money, obey rules, know our address, and pay our taxes.
Pam takes the boys to the library every week for new books. We're doing a lot of board books. Pam likes contests, so they are now entered in the Seward Library Summer Book Reading contest. How much credit should they get for "Fire, fire, said Mrs, McGwire," "It's Pajama Time" and "Oops?" 
This week they went to Vacation Bible School at St. John in the mornings. There were 150 kids in groups of 30, but with Pam attending to Jonathan and either Kjersten or Adrienne attending to Sasha, it worked out pretty well, and I got to hear all about Gizmo the robot and crafts and snacks and how big Jimmy Juergensen is compared to Sasha and how eating popcorn can remind us of the Transfiguration of Christ.
On June 15th we will take Kjersten to Atlanta, where she will start a 3 1/2 year graduate program in architecture. We will all go, taking two cars and leaving one. It is hard to have Kjersten so far from home for so long, but we are thankful for all the good experiences we've shared so far, and look forward to many more. The boys got on their knees and begged her to stay. This will be their first car trip of more than 45 minutes. 30+ hours. Should be an adventure!
I love these updates!! :)
ReplyDelete30+ hours in a car...you need a portable DVD player to borrow? We have one.
But really, what an awesome way to see the US. And, congrats to Kjersten!