Must Stop to Smell the Roses...

Each morning we go through the same routine...and I find myself at 7:50am raising my voice to Kristina, "Come on....we're going to be late.  Hurry up!!!"  I echo these words over and over and over.  The mornings seem to be a blur as I race around ~ but a moment later I hear, "Mommy, look at this!" and I stop in my tracks. I remind myself that she is growing up so fast and I don't want to miss anything.

Here are a few of those precious moments I could have shunned away with a "Come on, we don't have time" but instead I thought "If we're late, we're late....I'll never get this moment back in time."

One morning I was especially impatient as she was taking FOREVER to come out for breakfast.  Then I saw why....for the first time, she had braided her hair on both sides.  What surprised me most is how did she get a straight part down the back of her head?  I swear this girl lived a life before this one....

So intent on making sure they are perfect.

So proud of my not-so-little girl!

Ha -- and just before walking out of the house, Kristina took those braids and put them into buns.  Here is our version of Princess Leia!

Right before we ran out of the house, Kristina brought me the other half of the "Mother/Daughter" necklace given to us by dear friends Annamarie and Donna.  Kristina was wearing her half and said "Mommy, you have to put your half on so we can think of each other all day."  I figured this moment would be worth it getting to school and work late....so I obliged.  Here we are wearing them.

And go figure, the morning when it's already over 100 degrees and we're almost late, Kristina spots a Praying Mantis by the front door.  "Mommy, look -- it's soooo beautiful!  Take a picture."  I couldn't resist.

It seems like now, at the age of 7 1/2 and home for over 5 years, Kristina is very comfortable in telling people that she is from Russia.  And she's proud of it.  (We don't taint her thoughts with the current political unrest between the US and Russia -- just hoping someday soon the "big boys" will learn to play nicely together in the big Sand Box of life....but that's for another Blog...)  Kristina's teacher is from Korea and a few of the children in her class are from Mexico.  So, of course, Kristina had to blurt out to the class, "Well, I'm from Russia."

This past Thursday was "Multi Cultural Day" at school.  All the students were asked to gather together artifacts representing their culture and display them in the auditorium and later discuss them in class.  After getting the ok from the teacher, we made a trip to the local Russian Market and got some wrapped candy.  All other food was "banned" this year which greatly impacted participation in the auditorium's display...which was a shame.

I'm so glad we made the time to find some items as Kristina really enjoyed putting it all together!

Heading out to school and ready to represent Russia!

Russian artifacts included a Russian Flag, Matryoshka Nesting Dolls, Cyrillic Letter Blocks, a small trinket box made of birch wood with Ekaterinburg on it, and a listing of words in English, Cyrillic and their phonetic sounds.

Proudly standing next to her display.

 

Kristina taught the class how to say "hi", "good-bye", "dog", "cat", "thank you", and "bye-bye" in Russian!  She had to practice a lot as the only ones she still knew before this task were dog, cat and thank you.

Room 16 (Kristina's room) had the most number of artifacts displayed.  It was sad to see other tables/rooms completely empty.

From afar, with my zoom lens, I caught Kristina with her friends before the Multi Cultural Parade.

 

And then she noticed I was taking photos!

 

The 2nd Graders on parade displaying cultural pride.

If Kristina had her way, she'd be wearing high heel boots....just like they do in the motherland!

I.Just.Love.Her.So.Much.

This 2nd Grader worked the hardest at displaying his cultural pride!

Lots of cultures represented by the 2nd Graders!  Good Job!

When the dismissal bell rang, Kristina ran out of her classroom with a bunch of kids following her.  Apparently, she was only allowed to hand out 1 piece of candy to each child and was told she could hand out more at the end of the day.  I was with friend and fellow mom, Betsy, as we saw Kristina run by.  I had to make the comment to Betsy that it looked like Kristina was the "dealer" on the playground by the way the kids were swarming around her!  oye....

 

"Do you want chocolate or sugar jelly?"



Taking count of her "clients"....

...And announcing, "Mom!  I only have a few of each left!"

I am so glad I took Thursday off from work so I could see her participate in Multi Cultural Day.  I don't know how she will feel in the future but for now, she feels that being from Russia is a cool thing.  (When Kristina was little, she thought ALL kids were from Russia...) 

So yes, we must stop to smell the roses because right in front of us, this little girl is blossoming.  Although some things never change....

 

 

Since a toddler, up until the present, this is how our angel still sleeps.