New Toys!

I got an A on my first spelling test in American school, so I got to pick out some new toys! My new family is really proud of me for working hard to learn the words.

We had a very pretty day today. It had been raining for a long time, but the sun came out today! Keesha took some pictures of me outside.

My skating has been going really well too. My coach is very tough, and sometimes I get lots of bruises, but I really love to fly through the air and land jumps! I landed my double lutz quite a few times this week, and I worked on my double axel but only in the harness.

New stuff!

In Russia, I only got new clothes a few times a year, like my birthday and New Year. (Russians don't really celebrate Christmas. We give gifts for New Year instead.) All of the clothes I brought with me from Russia were too small, so I got some new things. I'm going to be getting more soon. I must have grown a lot since I last needed my winter clothes in Russia! Here is what I picked out:

A t-shirt with ice skates on it and a pleated skirt and new sunglasses (my boots are from Russia):

A new sweater and leggings:

What do you think?

привет means hello

Hi, everyone! This is Katia. Keesha decided to share her blog with us, and asked me to tell you more about myself, so here goes...

Full Name: Ekaterina Alexandrovna Grinkova

Nicknames: Katia, Katyusha

Birthday: May 28th

Favorites:

Food: cheesecake and frozen yogurt

Subject: gym

Color: purple

Book: Anna Karenina

Movie: Harry Potter series

Cartoon Character: Cheburashka

Hobbies: figure skating, of course!

Animal: puppies

This or That:

Chocolate or Vanilla: chocolate

Coke or Pepsi: water!

Morning or Evening: morning, but only if I get a good sleep

Summer or Winter: winter

Fruits or Veggies: veggies

Rain or Sun: sun

Inside or Outside: outside

Plane or Boat: plane

TV or Movies: movies

Mustard or Ketchup: ketchup

Ferris Wheel or Roller Coaster: roller coaster

Kiss or Hug: Kiss

If you want to know anything else, ask! I'll answer in the comments! :)

Some changes

Two posts in one day! I've decided to make some changes to my blog. Instead of just me blogging, it's going to be me, Katia, and Mei! To start things off, I thought it would be fun to do a little "About Me" sheet for each of us, so Katia is going to post hers first. Then, Mei, then me. Hope you enjoy getting to know my sisters better this way!

Long time, no see!

Hi, everyone! It's been a really hectic couple of weeks around here. School started off well, then went really sour, but it seems to be getting better again. After the first day, my teacher decided I needed to skip a grade. I was really excited at first because I already play soccer with the middle school team, so I talked my parents into letting me try it. Mom and Dad didn't want me to skip fifth grade and go on to middle school, even though they let me. It was so hard! All of a sudden, I went from being the smartest person in my class to struggling to keep up. I was miserable every night because I had to spend so much time doing my homework. I didn't have time to hang out with my sisters or do anything after school and practice. But, I didn't tell my parents I was unhappy at first because I begged them to let me skip to the middle school. Finally, one night, I was so unhappy that I was crying in my room. I thought everyone was already sleeping, but Katia heard me. We ended up talking all night, and I told Mom the next morning that school wasn't going so well for me. The fifth grade teachers didn't want me to come back to the elementary school, but my parents didn't want me to be miserable, so they agreed to let me do math and reading with the 6th graders in the morning and everything else at the elementary school. Things are so much better now!

Katia is adjusting pretty well too. She's picking up English really fast. She gets to skate in the mornings and do school in the afternoon. The teachers agreed to do it since she's catching up so fast. Plus, she already has a boyfriend! I've never had a boyfriend or even a crush before. I'm kind of jealous. Boys only like me as friends, never as a girlfriend.

Mei is happier now too. She's really getting into gymnastics. There's a new girl in her class that is also really into gymnastics. Her name is Stephanie, and Mei has gone over to her house after school almost every day. I'm really happy she's making friends. Sometimes she can be really shy, so kids don't always see how wonderful she is.

Hope everyone is doing well!