Well, it seems that March has been coming in like a lion weather wise these past few days here in Omaha but here at home it has come in like a lamb. We have seen so much progress from Natasha in her English it's just amazing. We are reading every night and she is understanding a lot of what I read to her. Once in a while she'll stop and ask, " Mama, what's this word. " if she doesn't understand what it means. And I explain it to her her and she says, "Yeah I understand." She loves reading so much that one night she told her little brother in a little stern tone of voice to "Shhh! Be Quiet!" Which made me chuckle a little because she dotes on her littlest brother so much I thought that to her he could do no wrong! It was cute and after she gave hime a hug and a kiss.
She has had a few days where I felt I wish she would grow closer to the girls and we know this takes time. They have so much love to give her and it is alittle different being in a family. She has had no problems with getting along or anything but I just felt like she felt kind of like an outsider. These last few weeks however have been just amazing and it really seems like she feels like she is right at home here with us. She is so kind and caring to her sisters and brothers and jokes along with them and is excited when they come home from school. She is always sad when Ariana brings home homework(which she calls "gomework") because she wants to play with her right away.
She has gotten a library card and loves to visit the library. She has recently found books on tape and loves listening to them, another great way to help her to learn English. She really likes the Little House on the Prairie series which I wish we could find in Russian. She has already read "Heidi" one of her books we brought home from the Ukraine. I wish we had purchased more since it may take longer to master reading English.
I know there's so much more to share but time gets away from me when I write. I wish I was a better typer!