Transitions

many people have requested that we blog to let everyone know how things are going now that we are home.
First of all we arrived home New Years Day. It has been so great to be home we missed everyone so very much and it is so GREAT to be back in America. You don't realize how much you appreciate America until you spend alot of time somewhere else. There are so very many things we take for grantide.
As far as how things are going????? Well it has been a huge transition especially for me. It has been emotional, frustrating, time consuming and discouraging at times. Other times fulfilling, heartwarming and full of love. An emotional roller coaster. I often feel inadequate for the task.
Ana has had some set backs with introducing new children into the family. She has piped her attitude up by a large margin. She seems to think it is appealing to "show off" for Erik. Her English skills are regressing, since she is now speaking Russian more with Lena and Erik she is forgetting some of the English she has learned. We have had some problems with her being rude and nasty to family members. We have had some good heart to heart talks and she is trying to do better. She has always been very respectfull of me, but struggles to show respect to many other people. We are working on this. Yesterday she thought she was going to beat up her big brother Isaac (who is 6 ft 3 Inches) she can be fisty. She was giving it all she had. Tonight she was snuggled up beside him loving him up.
Erik has a sweet side that we need to work on bringing out more. He goes into shut down mode over the smallest things such as being asked to brush his teeth, shower, wake up ect. It is frustrating the amount of time that needs to be exerted to get a simple task accomplished. He doesn't understand the concept of respect yet. We are trying to take things one step at a time. One moment I think I will never break through, the next he is trying to help me with something or tonight I got a big hug and an "I love you Mom". Wow! I thought where did that come from.
He is excited to go squirrel hunting with Russ (Pop as he calls him) in the morning. He shot his first squirrel a few days ago and boy was he excited. He shows the tail to everyone and the skinned body he has displayed in a glass jar of salt water on the top shelf of the refrigerator. He says tomorrow he is getting an even bigger one.
Lena is a gem. she is super and we couldn't ask for a sweeter more loving girl. She is a big help and doesn't appreciate Erik and Ana's attitudes and disrespect. I am trying hard to not allow the other children's need for so much attention take the time away from her that she deserves. She enjoys doing her art work, helping, using the computer. skyping friends from the Ukraine etc. She has maintained contact with her art teacher, older sister, and friends at the orphanage. She is kind and loving to everyone in the family and is especially good with all the grandchildren.
There is never a dull moment at our home with 8 children, 3 daughter in laws, 8 grandchildren and a fiancee. In the midst of all the transitioning we are planning our daughters wedding. She got engaged at Christmas and is plnning to get married end of May.
At this point we are not sure when Lena and Erik will start school. We are taking one day at a time and working on transitions at home before pushing school. They will both start English tutoring lessons on Skype with Lillian tomorrow and will have them every week day. It will be harder for them to learn English since they can communicate in Russian with each other the need isn't as great to learn.