Sank You

No, it isn't short for "You sunk my battleship." It's short for "Thank you."
Short, of course, because its hard to say that "th" sound when you haven't been raised with it.
The girls are learning English at the expected turbo rate. Anna being less noticeable than the others because the others always speak for her. Get her apart from her sisters and she is just as capable of in depth lively conversation. Well, sort of.

I have to wean myself off of the little Russian I'm using to make them practice a little more. In a few weeks, we will request English only at home. Not because we want them to forget their native language but because there have been some harsh words spoken between siblings and we need to intervene. We are expecting the two younger to mostly forget their Russian but I'm hoping Tanya will be able to keep hers. Our relationship is ever-growing and she trusts my judgment more and more. I may be able to encourage her to actually build her Russian skills for employment.

Oh, by the way, Boulder High gave us the cold shoulder a couple of weeks ago. The next week, some big ugly gorilla at Tanya's current school, punched her in the arm. I oscillate between feeling helpless and angry enough to call the National Guard. I just can't believe caring parents keep their new-to-the states kids in schools like these. There must be another option. I know, I should pull her out and do home school but you have to understand this wonderful teen. Honestly, she is 90% social. If I were to keep her home, I would find a shriveled shell of a girl in the space of a week. Despite the opposition, she is much happier than she was even a month ago because she has "friends." I say "friends" because they don't speak much English and nether does she. I have no idea how they communicate.

Sometime within the next few weeks, I have to sit down with one of the people from the school district and find out what Tanya needs to get a High School diploma. She has a diploma from Ukraine but Ukrainians graduate at age 16. We will give it a lot of prayer then go and see if I can talk to someone who is knowledgeable and genuinely helpful (is this possible?!). Okay, sarcasm aside, I hope they can give me good the news that Tanya really needs only one year.

For those of you who think adopting an older teen is a pain in the neck, it is. But not because the teen is a pain in the neck, Tanya is delightful, but because the system isn't prepared for them.