The First Day Of Kindergarten (for real this time)

     After countless medical tests, long lines, talking with administrators, and getting all of the proper stamps, Anneka's first day of kindergarten finally arrived!  In the morning as we were getting ready, I heard Anneka signing to herself, "When I am afraid, I will trust in you".  At first I felt a little sad thinking of my daughter feeling afraid.  But then I was filled with joy, as I saw that she was turning to God in her fear.  She was very excited, too!  Here's a picture of her in front of her school building.  When I told her the name of her school was "улыбка", which means "smile", she liked it a lot.
   

     Most kids go to kindergarten from 8:00am to 6:00pm.  They eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner there.  This is totally mind-boggling to us.  The waiting line is thousands of kids long to get into the kindergarten, too.  It's really a miracle that they let Anneka in.  We're not sure if it's because we have 3 kids (there's a new law in Russia- an incentive for increasing the population- that your kids can enter without a line if you have 3 kids), or if it's because she's not eating meals there that they let her in.  But we're glad about it!  Anneka just goes from 9:00 to 12:00... a perfect length of time for her age.  It's a tradition to take a small gift to your teacher on the first day, like a box of chocolates.  Anneka has two teachers and one specialist (speech therapist), so she brought three boxes of chocolates.  

     When I went to pick Anneka up, I could hear her voice on the playground from a block away, chatting away with a new friend.  When I met her at the classroom, the girl (Ksusha) was holding Anneka's hand and came up to me and proudly declared that Anneka was her new friend.  Such an answer to prayer!  It was a sunny day, and on the way home Anneka and I sat on a bench and ate a little snack to hold her over for lunch.  It was nice to sit and talk about her day.  And Ike slept through the whole trip.  (Ignore my greasy hair from not showering for days.)

     It took awhile to get home.  The normal commute is a brisk 15 minute walk, but it probably took us an hour.  We had to go to three stores in order to find cheese for our lunch.  A young man and his mom are living in the apartment next door to us for the next month.  There isn't a stove or oven over there, so they'll be sharing our kitchen with us.  I wanted them to have lunch already prepared for them  for their first day.  This was on the walk home from the store that finally had cheese.

     I took Ella to a little bakery stand and she picked out these special little cakes to celebrate Anneka's first day of school.  Ella loved having this honor, Anneka was so happy about it!

     We ate our cakes together and had a family night.

     I think Ella is going to like Anneka being at school AND she'll like it when she comes home.  Look at that smile!

     Happy first day of school, Anneka!  We pray for many more good days!