Semi Summer

     Summer is kind of here!  It's not completely here, as the weather is still cold some days.  At the end of May, Ella prayed before bed that winter would come.  The next morning we woke up to a blanket of 3 inches of snow!  And Anneka still has Russian kindergarten until the end of June.  (it's late this year because there was a quarantine this winter... I don't really understand because she still went to school during the quarantine.... something about her not having special classes like music and all of the regular lessons).  But there are also a lot of days that are sunny and beautiful.  And all of the school-aged kids (older than kindergarten) are out of school, so it makes for fun times on the playground.  A few weeks ago, we met these sweet little girls on the playground.  They come from a Christian family (which truly is amazing to find here!)  and they come over to play pretty much every day. All 3 kids just LOVE them and ask every day when they get to play, and they make plans about how  long we'll play outside and how long inside and what they'll do, etc.

     I've really noticed a jump in Ella's Russian since playing with these girls.  It's fun to see.  Here they are playing Polly Pockets.

     One thing that's really interesting about playing with Russian kids is that most of them go to bed sometime between 10 and midnight.  Our kids go to bed between 8 and 9.  When I ask the girls to get on their pajamas at 8:15 and tell their friends it's time for them to go home, they simply can't comprehend WHY our kids would be going to bed so EARLY!  One evening "K" came to the door at 8:45.  Anneka was already in bed (but not asleep).  She asked if Anneka could play and I told her she was already in bed.  I said something about how she had to do her homework in the morning before church (because we had plans for after church) and she needed her rest to be able to get up.  "K" offered to help her with her homework.  I was a little hesitant, but I thought it may be interesting to see and told her "okay", but just for a short time.  Anneka was thrilled to get out of bed, and it was truly fun to watch them together.  Anneka had to write 5 different sentences using question marks.  Those were the only rules.  But Kristina wouldn't let her start any sentences with the same word (such as how, why, when, etc.) And she wouldn't let her write about the same subject matter for any 2 sentences. (like a cat, for instance).  It was truly comical.  Anneka did great with the strict rules, and Leif and I were happy that her homework was done!  Afterwards, Anneka said, "That was SO FUN doing my homework!  I never knew doing homework could be so fun!"

     Another indicator of summer is that Anneka completed her lessons in English this year with Art and Lisa.  They threw an end-of-the-year party at their home with great kid foods for lunch.

     They all had a fun time playing outside.  It was a beautiful day!  Even with just one day a week, Anneka has really grown in reading and writing in English and in her math skills.  We're so thankful for the Blakers and their help to our family.

     It's hard to see in the picture, but Matty put dandelions in Ella's hair.  She felt so pretty!

     Leif was gone this week in western Russia, and after the party, we headed downtown with the Brubachers.  Nettie met us there.  It's such a beautiful sight to have the fountain running!!

     Another day that Leif was gone (in the Siberian city of Chita), we went to the ethnographic museum with friends.

     We got to feed carrots to most of the animals.  I love that about the zoo here- you can feed the animals!

I couldn't help snapping a picture of these fun ladies dancing!

The kids ran and ran in the woods, played with sticks, and climbed trees.  

     We also were invited to Nathan's 9th birthday party.  The kids had a great time celebrating together!  It's such a special thing for our kids to have these friendships on our team.  They all understand what it's like to live as a "third culture kid".  They love each other dearly.

       I had to add this, because it's such a big part of our life right now that I don't want to forget.  Ike just LOVES puzzles.  He puts together several puzzles a day.  Often when the girls go to bed, I'll sit with him and do puzzles.  I never really liked puzzles growing up, as I'm not very good at them.  But I like watching Ike do puzzles.  It's so fun to watch the little wheels spinning in his mind and his little hands turning the pieces just right.  So now, I suppose, I love puzzles, too!