9 and Counting...

Counting down the days, thank you all for the kind words in your comments and emails, it really charges our “batteries”. Today, we went to see our daughter (couldn’t wait to say that) and I must admit, it did feel a little bit different. When we pulled into the driveway, her group was outside playing and we saw her at the fence with another little girl. I jumped out of the car and called her name and she seemed to get excited, and then it happened. Apparently, (from what Kostya was able to hear and interpret) one of the caregivers called her back and told her to ask for permission, it hurt her feelings so bad, she started crying (the first time we’ve seen her even come close to crying). We thought she had hurt herself on the fence or something before Kostya let us know what he had heard. Talking about the big bad mama-bear coming out in Jennie, needless to say, we were none to happy. The rest of our visit, she was very pensive and just not herself, but we made the best of it. In fact, the pink fingernail polish Jennie bought yesterday for her was a treat. She readily let Jennie paint her nails and then she returned the favor by painting Jennie’s thumbnail. I wouldn’t trade that sight for anything in this world. She said she will never wash that thumb again. Leaving was very tough, it’s too hard to rationalize why we have to leave her there now.

One of the other highlights though was we took about half of the toys today and gave them to the children in her group (about 15 of them). When we told the caregiver that we had them, all the children lined up and were extremely well behaved, but I could see the anticipation in their attention-starved eyes. Unexpectedly, the biggest hit was all the jump ropes, Kostya and I adjusted the ropes a little bit and they were so happy. We will take the rest on Monday along with the copier that was at the top of their need list.

To all of Oyster Bay, we’re very thankful for such a supportive neighborhood, I’m sure you’ll be seeing more toys in the yard (to our newest neighbor, Michael, we’ve already told them about the cool kid across the street). Thank you Kenny for your wonderful family, they have been such a blessing to us, I know how proud you must be of them. Mary Behan, the best tip I can give you is run a straightened coat hangar through, grab the buckle, and pull it back through, or, make David do it, but seriously, thank you for your kind words. The Brooke ladies of TX, Jeff E, Mandy&Eddie, Pamela&Paul, and all the grandparents, we feel your prayers as we get stronger each day now. Sally, someone used your name to post, you have never been at a loss for words (which we are actually thankful for). Cathy, Lilly wore the ballet outfit last year, she wants the Cat In The Hat costume this year.

Justin and Jacob, we loaned out Napolean Dynamite tonight, we’ll find out how to say “build a cake”, “delicious bass”, and “sweet jumps” in Russian for you. We did get “bucket head” translated for you. Love you, miss you, and hope you have a nice weekend.