Ukraine Adoption

Swimming, sunning, baseball

It's been a busy summer so far, from baseball games to the pool, birthday parties to bike rides. I'm home with the kids this week for an old-fashioned summer break. We hope to play and relax on a whim, no schedules.

You may have noticed there aren't many new blogs of families in Ukraine to adopt. It seems the adoptions have slowed down. Each one is taking so much longer than it did just a few years ago. I would not be surprised if the painful process is scaring people from Ukraine, which is really a shame. But who can take 6 or 8-plus weeks off from work to live in Ukraine where the rules seem to change daily, depending on which orphanage you're dealing with? And which town you're adopting from? And whether the judge is having a good or bad day or week?

We admire the families who are still planning their trips to Ukraine and haven't given up on this process as they search for their children. More than ever, they need to be determined yet patient.

...a few more Tara-isms

Tara wants to grow, a lot, and fast. This morning she ran over to the measuring wall where we periodically mark her growth with a pencil. "Hurry up, Daddy!" Tara said. "Weigh me!"

Since joining the neighborhood pool two weeks ago, there are six words I hear on a daily basis: "Can we go to the pool?" It can be pouring rain. "It's ok, we'll have our towels," she says. Kind of makes sense.

Tara-isms Part XXV

--We were picking out a watermelon at the local market the other day when Tara noticed the really small ones for $1.99. "Let's get these," she said. I told her we should just get one big one for the whole family. She replied: "Let's get two small ones for Austin and me, and a bigger one for the humans."

--We bought Tara a new one-piece bathing suit on Saturday that she can leave at her summer day camp starting today. When she put it on Sunday to go to the pool with me, I noticed it was kind of small on her. "It's fine! It's fine!" she assured me. "Let's go!" So at the pool, Tara's friend came in with her daddy and they sat near us. We smiled and said hello. Then Tara declared loudly like a teenager: "MOM! Why did you buy me this suit?! It's too tight! What were you thinking??!!" Sigh.

Special week

Just this week:

Tara scored another goal at soccer on Monday after weaving in and out to kick the ball, blocking shots at the goal, chasing down the ball as though everyone else was standing still. She actually anticipated where the ball was going to go and ran to that spot. Her coach told me afterward: "You have something very special here. She's a real athlete." That was her last game of the spring season, I have already signed her up for fall.

Also: Tara decided Monday that she definitely no longer wanted the training wheels on her new bike so Austin took them off for her, and she promptly threw them in the garbage can. That was that. Today, she and Austin couldn't wait to show me that she can completely ride around the block, to the park, on gravel, pavement, dirt, wood chips, grass and down a curb, all without falling. She can start and stop by herself. She did not want to get off her bike. I'm not sure who is more tired today, Tara or Austin (!)

And finally, on Wednesday evening if the power has returned to her school, the classmates in the Raccoon Room will have their pre-school graduation ceremonies. UPDATE: No school Wednesday due to power outage; graduation rescheduled for June 18. They will sing songs that they have been practicing for weeks. Our big little girl is more than ready for kindergarten in the fall, according to her teachers. She has learned to play (and excel) at soccer and bike riding, so we know she is anxious to conquer kindergarten. Is the world ready for Tara Vika?

Fallen trees and a sad little girl

A sudden, crazy storm with mini-tornadoes ripped through our neighborhood yesterday. Our beloved maple tree in front of our house was ripped from the roots and knocked over onto our driveway---and John's car. Remarkably, the damage to his car was minimal: a handful of fist-size dents.

Tara and I had just left the house in my car, which was parked closer to the tree and would surely have been crushed if it was still there. We missed it by 10 minutes. Upon arriving home, Tara burst into tears, hysterical really, saying she loved that tree. Just hours earlier, she was trying to get our cat to come out of the tree. He was chasing a squirrel.

Down the street, a yellow-orange glare was flashing through the sky by an angry downed wire. Smoke filled the air. We lost power. Across the street in a backyard, three huge old trees fell down domino-style upon countless wires. They looked twisted and turned and dark like a jungle. The roots pulled out of the ground were taller than me; Austin's friend posed for a picture. The light rain was still falling, it was the only gentle thing of the night.

Late into the evening, people rode bikes through the neighborhood to survey the damage. Neighbors in shorts and wet hair gathered in the street to talk about where they were when the winds hit town. Children were riding their bikes and skate boards, trying to delay their bedtimes. I talked with some neighbors I haven't seen in ages. Destruction brings people together. We are thankful that no one in our area was hurt, though we have heard that six people died in our state's storms yesterday, mostly due to fallen trees and flooded streets.

Today brought sunshine and we can see even more clearly, our tree lying there like a tired old friend. Lots of phone calls to insurance companies and tree-cutters. Our homeowners insurance won't pay for tree removal, but auto insurance will pay to repair John's car. That's because the tree hit the car. If the car hit the tree, then insurance would have paid for tree removal. Go figure. That's America for you.

She kicks, she ....

...scores! Yes, Tara got her first ever goal last night at her soccer game. I was jumping up and down on the sidelines, just amazing! She was so thrilled.

Play by play: In the middle of the game, I told Tara to try to stop the other team from scoring because our players were just standing by our goal and watching the ball roll right in. So the very next play, the same thing happened and Tara looked at me, I was making a frowny face, she was mortified like she messed up. And then she teared up and the coach put his arm around her. Oh no! I didn't mean to make her feel bad!It wasn't her fault! I'm an awful spectator/soccer mom.

On her sideline break, I told her it's not her fault they scored. She wasn't even the goalie. I hugged her and sent her back in. She seemed OK. Whew.

Then the other team was taking the ball down the field again toward our goal, Tara sprinted past the whole mob of kids from both teams, got in front of the boy with the ball, put her foot on the ball to stop it, and then kicked it to the side and ran it all the way down the field, the mob of kids trailing but not able to catch up. We were screaming. Then she guided the ball toward the center and kicked it right in the goal!