WE'RE BACK!!!

It is with much excitement that I announce the Barry Blog is back on the web!!!! It has been most difficult to be sans computer for over a week. I know Paul Barry is glad we're back up and running because he's tired of me complaining. It's kinda a love-hate relationship. You love having a computer, but at the same time, it's nice knowing there's no computer on which to check e mail when you get home. And no computer on which to blog.

There are some problems. Most importantly, Scrabble has been erased. But, I will try and survive. Also, all of our Christmas labels and other junk were erased.

Several thoughts:

1. I may be needing some of you as character witnesses. I seem to have zonked Yulia in the eye this evening:(. I was pulling something out of the hot oven and of course, tried to remove it without a hot pad. And, of course, she was standing within inches(totally in my space, as she always is) Well, I jumped back and my left hand went flying into her upper right eyebrow. She's quite the drama queen, but I think it must have hurt. Plus, she had injured her toe earlier in the evening when she ran into the ottoman while dancing. So, let me know if you'll be willing to speak in my behalf should we be carried to court.

2. FYI, if anyone cares, there is an O'Fallon, Missouri and an O'Fallon, Illinois. No my friend, I didn't realize it either. Imagine my surprise when I realized the Hannah Montana movie tickets we had purchased for an unbelievable amount of money were for O'Fallon, Illinois and not O'Fallon Missouri. Yes, I figured this out the morning of the movie. Needless to say, I wasn't driving to Illinois to see some stupid HM flick, so I was able to twist the arm of the Missouri theatre to honor our tickets. Of course, it's hard to not have one's arm twisted when the 10 year old who's with you is wearing a HM wig. (See earlier posts)

3. Swimming lessons are over. The young lad at the "Y" had the audacity to ask us if we had signed up for swimming lessons next semester. Uh......NOOOOOOO!!!!! Apparently this young man doesn't realize one must teach a child proper breathing techniques before beginning swimming lessons. Our next venture is soccer. Should be interesting. Of course, Paul and I know nothing about soccer, which could be to the coach's advantage.

I told Yulia we would be starting soccer soon. She said, "Mom, you no soccer. You too big." Truth hurts, doesn't it.

4. I may not be putting JCP out of business after all. I had a good chat with my friend the manager this week, regarding an item I was returning after the 90 day grace period. We're becoming fast friends.

5. We are on the lookout for a new photography place. Colyn will be visiting Father's Day weekend and we want to get some pictures made. Plus, Easter's coming up and Yulia has 3 outfits in which she needs to be photographed. My friend, MB suggested the studio at Baby's R Us, but the closest one is in O'Fallon, Illinois(that is.)

6. Yulia's very thrilled her hair can fit into a semi ponytail when using two small vertical tails! I'll have to post a picture.

7. If you want a Christmas card next year, please send us your address to my e mail: speechqueenlonghorn@yahoo.com.

8. Can you tell I've been doing some wine tasting tonight???

Love to all,

The Barrys

News from Up North

Our home computer is still on the blitz, so that's why I haven't been blogging. Paul Barry has allowed me some time with his laptop. Of course, it's taken me an hour to figure out how to get the pictures downloaded. So, you're going to get several topics together. We're going a little stir crazy here. There is snow here almost on a weekly basis. Normally, it is nothing more than snow flurries. Sometimes a couple of inches of snow. But schools are closed today and tomorrow because of ice and snow. Ughhhh! Guess I'll try and make it to work and take Yulia with me. She's gone before and did a really good job of sitting still and watching DVDs. We've all been sick here. I finally went to the doctor today and I have bronchitis. I've put myself on vocal rest which is a joy for Paul and very confusing for Yulia.


It is so cold here. You know, in Texas we don't really need gloves and scarves. You do here. Almost everyday.
This picture was taken during our last big snow. Paul was out of town and Yulia decided she would shovel the driveway. (Don't know where she thought we were going) She did a really good job, except for the fact that she shoveled all the snow to the end of the drive, so we were unable to get out of the drive. Really very humorous!

These pictures were taken after the Hannah Montana Movie. Yulia insisted on wearing her HM gear and telling everyone at the movie, "I'm Hannah Montana." This child DOES NOT get embarrassed. Kinda scary. I will say it was one of the worst sound productions I've ever heard in a movie. You couldn't hear Hannah and the Jonas Brothers when they sang. They were outplayed by the band. Maybe this was on purpose, because the vocals aren't that great anyway. Sitting in this 83 minute production, I reminded myself that a year ago I did't even know or care who Hannah Montana was. Now, I'm sitting beside my child who's decked out in HM underwear, socks and hair. Scary!

I must update you all on the swimming lesson fiasco. Really, dont' get me started, but just suffice it to say that neither semi-private nor private swimming lessons are meeting my needs. Nor have they taught my athletic daughter how to swim. Is it just me, or do people just not care anymore? I told PB, when I taught swimming lessons, I had a step by step plan with goals to meet in order to graduate from the class. In my 20 year absence from the swimming field, apparently there have been some changes. Our 19ish year old instructor seems to be more interested in flirting with the other lifeguards than teaching my child. Ask him for goals and he looks at you like you're speaking Chinese! I'm sure this is just the beginning of my rude awakening, but I can't stand the incompetence. Alright, I'm done for now.

For those who care, the V-Day craft was a success. I'll soon be opening Karen's Krafts and Swimming Instruction. I'm going to be very busy with all my new ventures.

On another note, per the social worker's request, we've been trying to encourage Yulia to speak more Russian. She doesn't care to. We left her with a Russian speaking babysitter last week and she wouldn't speak Russian with her. The doctor I saw today grew up about 300 miles from where Yulia was born and tried to talk with her in Russian today. She answered him in English. When I ask her why she says, "Mom, you speak English. Pop speaks English. I speak English."

Will close for now. I think these anti biotics are hindering my ability to write in a humorous manner.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

We're experiencing some technical difficulties on the Barry household computer , and thus the Barry Blogsite. Paul says he can fix it, but says that may mean losing:
1. My blogsite.
2. My online scrabble game.
Since I cannot live without either of those items, I'm begging him to find another way.

It is really a drag having slllllllloooooowwwwww internet service. But, it allows me the opportunity to work on patience as a virtue. Ha.


Anyhoo, not much news. We had our 6 month home visit with a social worker this weekend. We will officially have Yulia 6 months come March 20. ( We'll be celebrating with a trip to Branson at Silver Dollar City for Spring Break. ) I thought Yulia would be very excited to visit with our social worker since she speaks Russian. She was not. In fact, didn't have much to say which is highly unusual for her. But things went well and we won't have to see the SW again for 6 more months. Whatever. What's another couple of hundred dollars? Then a 24 month visit. Then 36 month. Then we're done with that SW stuff.

Valentine's Day is a new and exciting holiday for Yulia. She's not really sure what it is, but is enjoying decorating, mailing cards and getting ready for the party at school. No one laugh, please, but I'm in charge of the "crafts" portion of the V-Day party. Paul Barry has asked that I get that "crafts" day on camera. As many of you know, I have about as much use for arts and crafts as I do for a city without a Sonic. But, we do what we must do. Plus, my friend Denise Cuestas has been most helpful with artsy ideas. Who knows, I may me getting a new job at Michaels??? Or Garden Ridge???

BYE, BYE BUGSIE!!!

It was a sad, sad day, but we had to say "Bye, Bye Bugsie" last week. Apparently, once one has rammed their beloved auto into curb after curb, it becomes impossible(or very expensive, I should say) to balance said auto's tires. We had replaced Bugsie's tires right before moving to Missouri because unbalanced tires tend to rub raw on the insides. Well, after Yulia and I were stranded on Northbound 40/61 lastweek with another bad tire, Paul put his foot down. Again. But, this time I listened because it is very expensive to replace high performace tires.

Also, as many of you know, Paul's been after me to put aside my foreign car ways and experience the GM experience. Since GM is now responsible for most of our income since I'm working part-time, I thought perhaps I should listen. We chose the Pontiac Vibe which is made on the same assembly line as the Toyota something or another. It's main selling point is it was fairly cheap, reliable and gets EXTREMELY GOOD GAS MILEAGE. So, we took the plunge and we're now enjoying our white Pontiac Vibe. I must say I'm really liking it. Especially the satellite radio. Very nice to have all the cool stations. I am getting kinda tired of Disney Radio, though.

I do have many memories of Bugsie:

1. Probably the biggest one is Bugsie reminded me of Jon and Colyn. We had just purchased the Bug when Jon decided he wanted to move in with us while he went to high school in Bedford. I remember thinking perhaps the Bug hadn't been such a good choice when I went to pick up Jon and 2 of his 6 foot 6 friends and realized there was no leg room in the back seat!

Both of the kids learned to drive a stick with Bugsie. I remember Paul took them to a parking lot near our Bedford house and they had to practice starting and stopping on hills. (Also makes me have to get the tissues out)

2. Remember Paul and I seeing how fast we could get her up to, driving to Fredericksburg, for Valentines the first year. I remember a friend at work telling me, "You know, if you crash that car at that speed, you're a goner."

3. One weekend we paid to drive a few laps at the Texas Motor Speedway. Oh, that was fun! We paid twice(to some charity) so we could both drive. Well, when I saw how fast we could go around the speedway, I didn't want to do any driving. I was just holding on for dear life. I think we got up to 110 mph. That is very fast. Especially when all the other idiots at the speedway were following the rules to not speed past the pace car. Of course, Paul Barry wasn't following that rule.

4. Oh, for the number of tennis skirts that have set on and stuck to those leather seats. Yuk!

5. The number of Sonic drinks and Instant Breakfasts' that have spilled all over the leather seats, much to Paul Barry's dismay. Most of those spills while talking to my sister on the cell phone. (The Vibe doesn't have leather seats. You can get leather, but they're NOT HEATED! I don't think so!) For more information, see blog entitled, "It Really Is Cold Here"!

Please feel free to leave your Bugsie comments.

Salute, Bugsie!!!

THIS IS A TEST OF THE WENTZVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT!

I've said before that we were having Yulia tested in the schools. She underwent the testing in the past few months and Paul and I met with the diagnostic team Monday to discuss their findings. Going into the testing, their biggest concern was that there might be some "mental retardation." There is not. In fact, she doesn't even qualify for special education.

Her scores ARE low. Her IQ is 72 which is just above the 70 (mentally deficient). 80 is considered borderline. Her language and cognitive scores are low as well. But since both her IQ and other scores are so close together, that shows there is no sign of "mr" or need for special services at this time. They feel, and we agree, that the low scores are a result of her poor "home" environment and lack of mental/scholastic stimulation growing up in Russia.

She was tested with the help of a Russian translator. The translator says Yulia is able to speak in complete sentences, but her delivery is "littered"(DC) with poor grammar and poor word choices. Now, Paul and me ain't gonna have no kid of ours with bad gramma, so we're gonna keep workin on it. Honestly, we are seeing vast improvements everyday in her overall language, scholastic and social development. She's just beginning to put some sentences together in English and her comprehension is great.(We're having to be more and more careful about what we say because she's catching so much language these days.)

So, for now she'll continue in her English as a second language classes and Title One Reading. She'll also be going to school 6 weeks this summer to address reading and writing. The teacher is bringing in an aide to help with her math. And, there are plans for her to repeat the 5th grade. Overall, we think she's doing pretty dang well for a 10 year old newly transplanted to America!

It Really is Cold Here!

People had told us it was going to be cold in Missouri. They weren't lying! When I drove Yulia to school this morning, it was 6 degrees on the car temperature gauge. Yes, 6 degrees! I didn't even know the gauge would go so low. (Everyone here just laughs at us.) Now, we know why there is a need for gloves, hats and scarves. You know, we never needed them in Texas really. (PP and SM, I could really use one of those giant furry hats from Russia.) But not to worry....it warmed up to a sweltering 20 degrees this afternoon.

Brrrr! At least there haven't been any hot flashes lately.

THOUGHTS

It just continues to amaze me how the Lord picked the perfect child for us when He picked Yulia.

1. Friday I picked her up from school. On Friday, she gets her progress report and our expectation is that she will have "excellent" in behavior. As Paul says,"If she can't get anything else, she can get sitting still and listening."

On my way to pick her up Friday after school, I was dying for a blizzard from DQ. Of course, if she didn't get "excellent" we couldn't go. She gets in the car and I ask her "Excellent?????" She says, "No Mom, Very Bad." I almost pulled the car over. Of course, I was very upset that I wasn't going to get my blizzard. She let this go on for 2-3 minutes before dying laughing and showing me she did, indeed, get "excellent." We enjoyed our blizzard!

2. She loves musicals. I can't get over this. It was butt-cold here today so we got some DVDs. I got Jungle Book for her and Hairspray for all of us, thinking she'd fall asleep. She loved Hairspray and afterwards was dancing and singing. I asked her if she wanted to be in a musical like Hairspray or HS Musical one day and she said, "Yes."

3. I'm trying to get her to work puzzles. She's getting better but doesn't have a lot of patience(that's nothing like me). While working the puzzles, she was singing at the top of her lungs and I told her "shhhhhhh". She said, "But Mom, I'm singing." I remember when my parents used to tell me "no singing at the table." Oh my gosh, it's frightening.

4. Like me, she's CRAZY about Pop. When she hears his truck, you would think the entire cast of HS Musical or Hannah Montana had just pulled up in the driveway. Of course, then she has to hide and scare him. Yes, everynight in the same place. You think he'd learn by now!

5. She is very hard headed and will argue with the fence post.(No laughing now)

6. I must say she's beginning to like hot foods. We're slowing weaning her in and she's doing very well.

7. She really is taking a liking to football. She likes to cheer against the Cowboys and Longhorns, but we're working on that.

8. She's VERY ATHLETIC(like her father). I finally put her into private swimming lessons and she's already swimming half-way across the pool, without any assistive devices. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Also wanting to play basketball, softball, dance and gymnastics. We're a one-thing at a time family here. A little too old for running from activity to activity.

Just some thoughts I thought you guys would enjoy!