Progress

Well, the girls have been here for almost six months now, and everything is going great! They have fully integrated into the family, and it is like they were always here. They tell stories sometimes about their life before, and it brings tears to my eyes each time I think about the things that they endured. They are finally LOVED and SAFE!

Kristina was able to start at our private Catholic school in the fall, and I am homeschooling Anastasia until her english is more understandable. One of the pitfalls that we found was that neither girl knew how to read or write (barely even in their own language). So it has been a long, difficult summer for them with the ESL tutor. We literally had to start from scratch with them. They didn't know basic arithmetic, so we've been using some Kindergarten through 2nd grade materials to try and get them going. Kristina is in a special program at school that allows for her to catch up to the rest of the class, but she progressed tenfold when she started formal schooling (I think socialization has a LOT to do with that!). We're hoping for Anastasia to start in January, so keep your fingers crossed!

Both girls are very motivated to learn, and have gotten involved in some school activities. Anastasia has two 8th grade girls tutoring her on Thursdays after school, and both Anastasia and Kristina are running cross country (I am coaching this year). It is good for them to get physical activity because they sort of pigged out on every food that they could get there hands on for the past few months. They dont have much where they come from, and in fact were starving before they entered the orphanage, so the sheer abundance that we have here causes them to go overboard sometimes. They will quite literally eat an entire flat of strawberries or cherries in one sitting. The grocery bills have been ASTRONOMICAL!! It has slowed down now, but I still find them closet eating out of habit sometimes.

I will update more as I can, but rest assured, everyone is doing GREAT!