Catch Up?

When I have a spare millisecond to myself, the last thing I want to do is blog. I struggle in my mind with what to do. Should I use the bathroom? It may be my only chance. Should I blink my eyelids? If I don't my eyeballs might dry up and fall out. Should I sit down? I may not ever stand up again... But, I will blog. I really want to record all this... stuff so that someday I can look back and see (hopefully) how far we have come. I also want proof that these crazy days really did happen. So, here I am. I have just a few minutes to try to capture the past week.

I don't even remember Friday. Just like any other person, there is no break to be taken or day of rest to 'adjust' to the time change. We got home after midnight from the airport, went to bed by 2, and were up at 8. We decided to let the kids all sleep in a little and just be 15 minutes late to school. The night we arrived home, Huz was all set to go to bed and let the boys 'go to bed whenever they are tired.' He obviously had not spent the past 2 weeks as a single parent to them. On my urging (psychotic insistence) he sat by their beds until they held still long enough to go to sleep. When he came to bed, he said to me that he had tucked them in and rubbed BoyTwo's back for a few seconds and that had put him right to sleep. He commented on how sad it was that he had never had anyone to do that for him. My response was (this will show you how out of sorts I was), "I did that for him last October when they were here, so he has had it done." I then added that I was glad that Huz liked BoyTwo, because I sure didn't.

Saturday was a blur. We had to make a few purchases for the boys, as it is officially fall here in the little town we reside. BoyOne was supposed to have a soccer game, but we had a CRAZY storm and it was cancelled. You all know that it takes a lot to get a soccer game cancelled. They play in everything but lightening. Which reminds me of what we did Friday. I had to do a bunch of paperwork in order to get BoyOne registered for the soccer team he would be joining. I was being helped by another soccer mom and the both of us were busting our butts to get everything together so that he could play the next day. When he complained about all the errands, I just told him that we had to do this for him to play soccer. If he didn't want to play, then we could just stay home. His choice. With eyes rolling and Russian sentiments rolling off his sassy little tongue, he reluctantly agreed to finishing our errands. Good move buddy.

Back to Saturday. We got up early for the game which ended up being cancelled, but that was fine, my two little girls had a dance clinic that morning. The rest was a blur. I do remember more of Friday though. haha. I had this family fun night at the elementary that I wanted/needed to be at. I sent Huz with BoyOne to finish shopping for church pants, church socks, a church shirt, cleats, shin guards, and long pants/jeans for school. I had already been to two other stores with all six kids and my sister and I thought it was only fair for Huz to have this experience with BoyOne. The other five and my sister and I enjoyed an evening of free entertainment and super cheap dinner. It was great. So far, I hadn't had to cook yet. Phew.

When we got back home, Huz and BoyOne had found everything on the list. They had visited FOUR STORES!! And Huz could hardly believe it. I was secretly happy that it hadn't been quick and easy, because nothing I had done thus far had been so and it was only fair to share with Huz in that frustration. When I went to iron the boys church clothes, I discovered that the way wrong size had been purchased for BoyOne. I desperately called my neighbor who has a son that had an extra pair for us to borrow. It was EXTREMELY important to me that the boys be properly clothed for church. Whatever they wore the first time would set the stage for the rest of the Sundays. I also had to call Huz and ask where we kept our iron and ironing board. I don't iron. When I was younger, I took a woman's ironing in for her and I actually really enjoy ironing, it's just not something that I have time for. So, Huz is in charge of his own ironing, or he can send it out to the cleaner. Now that the boys are here, I thought I had better set the example for them of preparing properly their church attire. My plan is that they too will soon be responsible for their own ironing. Well, maybe not BoyTwo, he is a little young...

Sunday morning Huz had some meetings. I was surprised that he was still going, since basically we had just had two babies. He assured me that he would be back an hour before church started so as to assist me in getting everyone out the door. We were all up by 7, which gave us 5 hours to get ready for church. Energizer Bunny had not run out of batteries yet though and between doing hair for the girls and getting everyone fed and dressing the Bunny (I know he's seven, but he cannot do even the most basic of things. It truly has been like having a baby. Like a ten month old. Or two year old. Depending on what it is.) BoyOne wanted to wear a black tshirt underneath his white button up shirt and tie, and black ankle high sport socks with his tan dress pants. I told him that he needed to take off the black shirt and socks, that it wasn't a popular look here for church. Based on his reaction, you'd have thought I told him that he had to go naked. He yelled at me in Russian. I told him calmly to put them on for church and then walked away. A few minutes later I saw that he had taken off the tacky black tshirt but not the socks. I decided to let Huz deal with that one when he got home any minute. Except that it wasn't any minute. When he got home we only had twenty minutes until church started and it is a ten minute drive. Four was giving a talk at the very beginning of church and I hadn't even showered yet. BoyTwo needs his own personal aide morning, noon and night. I have to stick to him like glue or else he is into some kind of trouble. Huz packed the kids into the suburban after telling BoyOne to change his socks. I took a thirty second shower (what was the point?!) and hauled over to the church just in time to catch the end of Four's talk and see BoyTwo start kicking a little girl. For no reason. Now no reason is a good reason, but at least it would make sense if there had been something going on. Nope, he just walked up to this sweet little girl and started kicking her. I hurried and grabbed him (boy, was he surprised to see me!) and made him apologize. Four did great on her talk. One and Three helped her. BoyTwo got to sit next to me (which was the plan. I was not about to leave his Primary teacher to deal with him on her own!!). He for some reason chose to punch a little boy in the stomach and would not apologize or agree to not hit anymore. I sat with him in the hall for twenty minutes. I made him stand against the wall. He wanted to sit, but there was no way I was going to let him be comfy when he was hurting others. During the twenty minutes, I asked him probably three other times if he was going to hit again. His answer was yes, I want to hit, I will hit. So, I had to go pull my husband out of the class that he was teaching, for presence. Huz is a big guy. I didn't want Huz telling BoyTwo what to do, I wanted him to listen to me and mind me, I just needed Huz for some leverage. It worked. Then Huz took a minute with him and told him not to disrespect Mom and that he needed to apologize to me, which he did. Then he apologized to the little boy he assaulted. The rest of the meeting was fine. Probably a little boring for them. I brought the Old Testament in Russian and BoyOne read for almost an hour. BoyTwo looked at the pictures and I tried to show him who Jesus was. From then on, any guy with shaggy brown hair was Jesus. :) At the end of the meeting, BoyTwo stood up and walked up to a girl and kicked her in the shins. Wouldn't you know it, it was the sister of the little girl he had kicked earlier. What are the chances. Huz saw that one and took care of it. That was nice. I get tired of being the one who sees it all and has to take care of it all. It's nice to have someone else's help. The rest of Sunday was fine, I think. At least if it wasn't, it wasn't so bad that I remember!!

Monday I took the boys to get their physicals and immunizations. They each had to have four shots and a TB test. You'd a thought they were having their fingernails pried off. My word. I already prefaced this experience a couple of posts ago, so I won't go into detail. They cried like baby girls. Seriously, it was as though they were being tortured. I finally typed on my phone that when Four gets her immunizations she doesn't cry. That shut them up a little. But, like the other post said, BoyOne was scared. to. death. He kept hyperventilating and almost passing out. He cried and cried and cried. Then he ran away and the hospital/clinic that we were at had to go on lockdown. They wanted to know if I wanted to call the police. I told them no. I really didn't think he'd go far. We were down in the town that we used to live in, that he had never been to. He had no idea where he was or what to do or where to go. I figured he'd come back or hide by the car. He came back, got his shots (only took three of us to hang on to him) and some band aids and a sucker and was all better. On the bright side, he allowed me to comfort him. BoyTwo, it took three of us to hold him down and he screamed like a banshee. Both boys limped and hobbled and didn't move their arms as if they had been brutally attacked, instead of immunized. This little act went on only as long as they could remember. (like when they were jumping on the trampoline and then saw me watching...) At home I gave them tylenol and put them to bed.

Tuesday, we went to the dentist. Our school district requires a dental exam and a physical and obviously all immunizations to be current prior to enrollment. I'm not really trying to overwhelm them more than necessary, but it is necessary for me (and for them) to get them into school a.s.a.p. I don't want them to fall behind any more than they already are. There is a ton of catching up to do. No, I don't expect them to be caught up any time soon. My goal is for BoyOne to be age appropriate by the time he is in 10th grade. Whether that is at the beginning or the end, I'm not going to specify. BoyTwo, I hope that by the time he is in 4th grade, he'll be age appropriate. And by age appropriate, I mean curriculum wise, caught up in their education. As far as maturity, I have no goals in mind as I feel that it will be continual and I just honestly have no idea. Educationally, I'm estimating that BoyTwo is at the preschool level (and that would be not taking into account the language barrier) and BoyOne at a fifth grade level. BoyTwo is starting in 1st grade, BoyOne 8th. There is a lot of catching up to do, which we anticipated and which is also typical. Anyhow, so off to the dentist we went.

BoyOne hyperventilated off and on the whole way there and again a few times while we were there. It's getting a little ridiculous. I had a translator explain that we were only having his teeth brushed, and pictures taken (x-ray) and he asked about 928387429834982 times if he was getting his teeth pulled. Obviously he's had a bad experience somewhere along the way. Thank the heavens for good dental insurance. BoyTwo needs three root canals and has four additional bad cavities. This was not a surprise to me. You can easily see each of those cavities in his little mouth. It's bad. BoyOne has five cavities and needs two of his front teeth fixed. They broke off from, get this, hula hooping. Not sure if I believe this one. He was adamant about it. Oh well. I don't really care how it happened, it just needs to be fixed. They brushed his teeth with a tooth brush, him watching in a mirror the whole. entire. time. Continually asking if they were going to pull out a tooth. Hyperventilated and they had to stop twice. Then they showed him their little scrapey thing that they use to get off plaque. The hygienist spent thirty minutes scraping the tobacco and plaque off of his teeth and only got to the front four on the top and bottom, and only on the side that faces out, not the insides. It. was. bad. They were shocked at how much tobacco was on them and how discolored they are-especially for his age. They about passed out when I told them how long he had been smoking. He was very pleased with how it helped his teeth look. They told him he had to brush morning and night. He had to floss. He has to use a prescription fluoride toothpaste, as his teeth are already formed, we have to do outside in, instead of inside out. That stuck with him and he brushed thoroughly that night. And then wouldn't again for the next two days. Ew. Someday, I hope that he will graduate to at least daily morning brushing.

And that takes us to Wednesday. It's already too long, so I'll finish catching up later. Just know that things are going as expected, which is rough. We are teaching them things that we have been teaching our biological children since the day they were born. We are trying to undo a lot of behaviors and mindsets. It will take time. We knew this. Just because we knew this, doesn't mean we aren't tired or irritated by the end of the day. Worth it? Of course!! We wouldn't change a thing that we have done.

BeeMommy, we'll be in touch. Jefferson, great idea to contact the local police. His tendency is for flight. Annie, it is good to hear that the anxiety has lessened. Hopefully it ends more quickly for BoyOne or else he'll be 18 with us holding him down!:) Everybody else, let's do lunch someday before the end of 2011!

And I forgot to thank Andreas for bringing a soccer ball to the airport. It was instrumental in the entertainment of all those former orphans. Great thinking!!