Sasha the Teacher

It has been a month now since Sasha and Nastiya had to go back to Ukraine. They taught me lessons this summer. These are lessons I quickly forget, so I am writing this down to help me remember.

This lesson is from Sasha.

We were on vacation at a family camp in the redwoods near Santa Cruz. A train ride down to Santa Cruz was planned one day. The train had open cars. The train would stop at the boardwalk in Santa Cruz, on the beach. Had the girls ever seen the ocean?

I tried to tell Sasha all the things that were going to happen, but she was in a rebellious mood. "No sleep. No eat." She was telling me she did not want to do anything. How could I explain to her in a way she could understand? My Russian was poor, her English was poor, pantomiming seldom got across the correct idea.

I could not let her miss this opportunity, so I picked her up out of bed, grabbed a bag with a change of clothes, and started walking to the place where people were gathering to catch a ride to the train. For half the distance, she struggled and fought to get out of my grasp. She finally realized I had enough strength to force her to do what I wanted. She then decided that she did not want to be seen in her pajamas. I found a place for her to change into her clothes.

We rode the train. We ran on the beach, and found shells, and big clumps of icky sea weed. We ate fresh fish at a restaurant on the pier. We saw sea lions. We rode many rides on the boardwalk. We gave both girls disposable cameras so they could remember their day on the beach, and the pictures were quickly used up. It was a very good day.

The lesson? How often does God come to me and say, "I have something great planned. We don't communicate well, so I can't begin to make you understand just how great it's going to be. But it will be awesome. Come on! Let's go!" And what do I usually say? "I'm comfortable here. I like this routine. I don't want to do something unfamiliar. I don't trust you." Unlike my story with Sasha, God usually lets me stay where I am, where things slowly becomes less enjoyable, and I miss the great thing God had planned. Just as Sasha did not trust me, I do not trust God.

If we can get Sasha and Nastiya back, there will many more opportunities for learning trust. And I hope that my eyes can remain open to the lessons these girls are teaching me.

I Cor. 2:9 - "... 'No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him'"

Papers and Other Terrors

The construction company is officially finished.
So I says to myself, "Why in the world should I pay a contractor to paint my house when I am perfectly capable of doing it myself?"
The new addition outside.
"I'll save a bundle for sure!"
Its a split level so the eaves are way up there.
"I like to paint."
The kitchen addition inside too.
"It will just take a few days."

Five days of painting. I'm tired of painting. Its really quite amazing how much paint we've accumulated in the 15 years we've been here. At least 5 different gallons of "white" and I still can't find the "white" that matches the ceiling in the kitchen. I'm starting to think 'Hillsborough Beige' looks exactly like the nylons I used to buy. The rough-wood-gray-outside-stain stuff is like water. Do you really just put it on with a roller? It's so drippy. I bet it would work better if I just poured it on the siding from the upstairs window.
(Haven't done that one yet but I'm tempted.)

So miss the girls. I don't even have their address. Not a good feeling. I'm working on it by pleading with people that have connections over there. I'm hoping Sasha will write a letter and send it in one of the SASE I gave her. Of course, they don't have a return addresses on them . . .

Painting the house is such a downer after the great summer we had together. Oh gee, I guess I'll clean out the game closet next week. Doesn't that sound exciting?
(Sorry, just a little bitterness seeping through.)

Papers. Yeah. I keep thinking that any day now we will be able to send our dossier over the great ocean to the country beyond (that would be Ukraine). We send papers to the lady that checks them very carefully to see if there are any booboos and she tells us there are corrections that need to be made and we make them and send them back and then she tells us there are some more papers. Its kind of like painting. Do you ever finish, really? But I think we are almost ready this time! When she finally says they are okay, I have to take the whole bundle down to Denver where the lord high keeper of the notaries will check to make sure the notaries are really notarized to be notaries and not just people with fancy embossing equipment maniacally stamping otherwise innocent looking papers just for kicks. I can't wait.



I wonder if they really ever find notaries that aren't notarized.

Comfort of the Fuzz Therapists

Saying "goodbye" to our two little darlings was one of the hardest things ever! What in the world are my daughters-to-be doing halfway around the world? I want to go get them right now! Too many tears at the airport.


Jesus, please protect them from discouragement, evil and mean people. Let us get there quickly for their sakes (okay, mine too).

Today the house is too quiet.

In times like these, I turn to my ever-ready, highly-trained, fuzz therapists. These compact professionals are standing by to remind me during these very emergencies that life is, indeed, good and all will be well.

Today, I need my fuzz therapists.

Cindy, HTFT (Highly Trained Fuzz Therapist)

Chew on This

I watched Nastia take a bite of a small piece of watermelon. She doesn't have an under bite but she chews that way. We had taken them both to the dentist, just for a look, earlier that summer. He told us that Sasha has fillings (though poor ones). Her decay would be lost over the next year because they were inhabiting baby teeth. Nastia had no fillings and 6 cavities that were, indeed, causing her not a little discomfort.
I borrowed Heidi's host kid teens to play with Sash and told Nast that we were going somewhere together. On the way, I told Nastia that Ukraine dentists were not so good and American dentists were good and that I wanted to help her teeth not hurt so much. She accepted that.
She was amazing. A little nitrous oxide and one hour later and we went home without so much as a whimper. After the Novocaine wore off, she wanted to know WHEN WE CAN GO BACK! I had already made a second appt for this week. She practically jumped up and down! "I hurt here and here and here," she said. "Okay, I'll tell him that."
After the second appt today, she said she has no more pain.
Good dentists. Just another blessing we take for granted.

Life with the Koopatzah Sisters

I hope you have interpreted my silence to mean I'm busy. Yes. Understatement. But not exhausted. I've experienced that before with difficult foster children. This is nothing like that. That was a bad sort of busy. This is the kind of busy where you end up saying to yourself, "I don't know where this will end up but I sure am glad I spend the summer this way." And, "I can't really think of a better way to spend a summer." I wish I could have brochures at travel agencies recommending the highlights of Ukrainian orphan child hosting. You will never see your world the same way again. That is what I would say. You will come to appreciate fresh produce (the actual food, not the clothing line) consumed in quantities that would make a teenager blush, your own set of clothes (that no one else wears), and sofa beds (which elicit squeals of delight). I love hearing Nastia say, " Oh, Vow!" over the most mundane things. When was the last time a sofa bed made you laugh? I thought so.

Sasha and Nastia's last name isn't really Koopatzah. I renamed them that. I have absolutely no doubt that some well-meaning person, wanting to encourage them told them they would go swimming EVERY DAY. How do I know this? They demand it, the plead for it, they put the word firmly in my mouth even when what I'm trying to say doesn't even remotely sound like "koopatzah." Every mud hole we pass en route to any destination is met with the plea for koopatzah. Rolan has promised every Sunday afternoon at the city pool.

I found out what impresses them when we gave them disposable cameras on vacation. They smartly marched over to the over-stuffed fridge, opened the door and took a picture. They thought the California palm trees were funny (my Grandfather from Holland thought they looked like toilet brushes), and as with us all, the vast beauty of the ocean. Sasha had me take a photo of her holding a large wad of seaweed extended at her arms length. There are so many new foods, experiences, undiscovered treasures. It is there through the eyes of a child.

You need a lesson in gratitude? Host an orphan.

Drama at the Christoffersons

When I said, "I AM THE DRAMA QUEEN!" I was really referring to my ability to intentionally over dramatize otherwise undramatic situations. I didn't mean I wanted drama to happen in my life! I prefer to create it myself, thank you very much.

So the reason why I haven't been keeping you updated, Gentle Readers, is because one of our dear children became sick just less than 24 hours after arriving. We all know and perhaps have first hand experience of having stomach flu after you arrive to a foreign country? Not so pleasant , eh? Okay, say you are a 10 year old girl without prior travel experience and the person who is taking care of you is NOT a medical professional, and they don't speak your language except to say, "Are you hurt?" or "Are you nauseas?" or "Do you have diarrhea?" and you cant keep anything down. There you have it, Gentle Readers. That is Sasha for the first 6 days of American Experience.
I thought I was in hell and I'm positive Sasha thought the same 'cause said she wanted to go home.
We took her to the ER on Sunday morn because she was so badly dehydrated. Yes, they did the IV thing. It hurt the whole 2 hours. We took her home with meds. No improvement. I was so frustrated and helpless. After we got home, I wanted her to see a doc who could check her lab results, but our system is . . . we pre-empt this post to protect the writer from sinning in word.
You get the idea.
A benevolent friend who is a nurse-practitioner returned home from vacation just in time to intercept another visit to the ER. He was able to help us use the $22 a pill meds to Sasha's best advantage and prescribe more to get her happy and well again in less than 48 hours.

Saturday, we were in heaven again. The six of us were camping in the beautiful Colorado mountains.

Now Sasha says she is having "too much fun and never wants to leave." YEAH!
This is what we signed up for! They laugh and giggle and are delighted with the littlest of things. Things we grew bored with long ago. I've never seen children consume so many fresh fruits and vegetables. Our sour cherries don't make it into the house! They wait well and they play well without much supervision. While we have had to do some "time outs" with Nastia, we are so glad she has enough self-esteem to make her wises known.

One bit of advice, I recommend for anyone who is considering hosting or adopting.
GET YOURSELF AN INTERPRETER. Our friend Tanya has been a life-saver! Beg, hire, enslave, but get an interpreter!

Valuable Gems Arrive!

After it was discovered that the original gems could not be secured, two other valuable (and just as appreciated) gems arrived by international jet under the watchful eye of trained escorts on Thursday. Giggles can be heard once again on Tanglewood Trail.