Slava Update #5

The emails are finally flowing from Ukraine. The last one came last night and it answered a few questions that I've had. The process getting there is different from 4 years ago, so I wanted a few things explained. Basically our facilitator told us that after Sept 1st they will submit our "Application" to the SDA. This is a letter that we did up requesting permission to adopt Slava as he's the sibling of our other 3 kids. After that is submitted the SDA will tell us when to submit our Dossier (which is already in Ukraine and translated). Apparently the way it works now is that an appointment date is given once the dossier is approved and it's sort of like "take a number and stand in line" to get an appointment with the SDA. Since we're adopting a known sibling, we do not have to stand in that line. Our facilitator thinks October is very likely for us to travel, but they just told us to be ready to travel because we may only get 1 weeks notice!

I'm glad we started school already, so we can get into a good routine with that. Now I'll spend September getting my home in order and packing & planning for our trip. It's not as overwhelming since we've already done this once and sort of know what to pack.

Please keep praying. We all need your prayers - paperwork, favor with the SDA & gov't officials, Slava, packing, travel, family at home, the whole process in-country, court, etc.

ps: check out the other 2 new posts below this one.

Jordan's 7th Birthday!

Here's the birthday boy. I can't believe he's 7 years old! He had such a good day surrounded by family and friends, not to mention food, presents, and cake.

Here's the prize gift - a battery powered, ride on Gator. Our big kids really wanted him to have this present, so we opened it up for family and friends to contribute to it. Jordan had no idea and was one happy boy when he walked around the side of the house and there it was!
He woke up this morning and said, "That's a real nice Gator." And then he rode it all around before and after church. We figure it'll be real fun for him and Slava (see the empty seat).
He also got a real tool box with real tools from Gram & Poppy Ken. He loves tools and toy tools no longer cut it. He got some other nice gifts too and lots of clothes which he needed. He's not grown a whole lot in the past 3 years, other than getting a bit taller, so he's basically worn out his clothes. It was definitely time for new ones. Jordan is a very blessed little boy and is a blessing to all who meet him.

Summer Games

As scary as this gang looks they're only headed into the woods to play Man Hunt. Basically tag, in the woods, in the dark. Here Missy, Sierra, Andrii, and Anna are joined by the Anderson gang of Ruth, Lil, Luci, Ezra, and Mary. It was so fun they organized a game each night for 4 nights in a row. Thankfully the excitement has worn off because I'm weary of being the tick police.

What We're Up To

It's been a busy week around here. Today I sent off the revised document for our dossier. September is right around the corner and I'm finally allowing myself to get excited about the adoption. Sometime in September we should know when we need to be in Ukraine. I can't wait to post that news! Tomorrow is Jordan's birthday, he turns 7. We're having a party on Saturday, so I'll post pics on that later. And we started school this week...sort of. We haven't begun full throttle yet, but everybody's been introduced to their books and are working in some of them. Next week we'll be in full swing. Usually we don't start until after Labor Day, but since we're anticipating traveling to Ukraine in early October we are starting early. I want everyone in a good routine before I up and leave for 3 weeks or so. Our son and daughter-in-law will be moving in for the time we're away and they can be the school overseers. Jordan will travel with us. One of the things I love about home schooling is its flexibility. We can mold it into what works for our family. And it works, we've successfully graduated 3...now only 4 more to go...well 5 including Slava!

Jordan prefers hands on activities to text books.

Anna's in 4th grade and likes to do school in her pjs. So do I.

Andrii is in 7th grade. Here he's reading in bed (Jordan's bed???). Kashi doesn't do school, she's just there for moral support.

Sierra is in 9th grade and does school at a desk in her room. She's a heavenly child to home school. She just does her work and delivers it to me all finished, plus she likes to read and write novels for fun. She does not wear glasses, she's just weird (I mean that with love).

Slava Status

I finally heard from our facilitator today. I have to re-do one document which consists of changing one sentence in Wayne's "Letter of Employment" so that it includes what he's earned in the past 6 months. It's no big deal really, but it will require yet another trip to the County Clerk, Dept. of State and Fed Ex on Thursday. I'll just add that to the orthodontist and grocery shopping I was already doing on that day. They said everything else looks good and they plan to submit our "Application" to the SDA (State Dept of Adoption) in Kiev after September 1st....So it seems that in September things could really begin moving forward. Please keep praying. If God is for us, who can be against us!

Our Weekend at Camp with the Andersons

We spent 5 days at our camp in the Adirondacks with our dear friends the Andersons. For those of you who do not really know us, this family too is a large home-schooling family who lives right next door to us. We even attend the same church. This trip to camp has become an annual event including the trip to Water Safari. This year started off with Lauri and I bringing the youngest kids up on Wednesday, then Curtis along with Beth, Ruth and Lil arrived Thursday with the pop-up camper for the teen girls to sleep in. Then on Friday night Wayne, Missy, and Dennis arrived after work. In all there were 16 happy campers converging on Otter Lake.

On Sunday morning the crew did a rousing rendition of Amazing Grace. From l to r: Dennis, Sierra, Mary, Ezra, Beth, Curt, Lillian, Ruthanne, & Anna.

Ezra & Andrii heading out to do some fishing.

Wayne surrounded by happy campers.

Fun around the camp fire with Luci, Wayne, Anna, Mary, & Ruth.

Missy on guitar and Mary C. and that bottle would be a Saranac Root Beer!

Best friends Luci & Sierra and Anna.

Curtis & Bethany (literally the "girl next door"). Or "Brad Pitts & Angely Jolee" as my mom calls them. She's a bit biased since Curt is her grandson, but she insists that he looks like "Brad Pitts" (yes, I know there is no "s" at the end, but that's how Gram says it!)

Here Jordan enjoys a water slide.

Anna showing off her muscles!

Andrii (in Kayak) assists Ezra, Jordan and Kashi in the paddle boat. These boys are early risers and I was pleased to see them paddle away at 7am!

More Summer Fun

Last night I discovered Wayne Sr., Curtis, Bethany, Sierra, Andrii & Anna enjoying a game of baseball in the yard. Missy and I joined them (I mostly took pictures). Sorry these are a bit blurry, but I was using Sierra's camera. Jordan announced he was the catcher, but mostly our Border Collie, Kashi, retrieved the balls.

Sierra, Wayne, Anna & Beth

Beth, Sierra, Anna, Wayne, & Curt

Some of us are headed to camp again for a few days, so I won't be posting again until Sunday. There has been no Slava news. I'm trying to be patient, but I've sent 3 emails to our facilitator in the past week all with no responses. I keep telling myself that "no news is good news" and that they're busy translating our 40 documents. However at this point I'd be happy with an email telling me to stop bugging them! My emails were not the bugging kind. They were legitimate questions, but still no response is frustrating. Today I shipped a package to Ukraine with some toys and clothes for Slava and his friends at the orphanage. This is the 3rd shipment since Christmas. This box included a poster-board card that I made with pictures of each member of our family. I'm hoping the orphanage staff will use it to begin "introducing" Slava to his family. I send the box to our Facilitator and they deliver it to the orphanage and spend a little time with Slava for us. They take pictures of him with the gifts. That's how we got so many cute pics of him. I am very thankful for that.

PRAYER REQUESTS: pray that we hear some good news soon, that our dossier is in order and will be accepted by Ukraine immediately, that we will get an appointment very soon to travel, and that we have favor with all government officials. Also pray for Slava, it will be a big adjustment for him. Thank you all so much, and God bless you all.

The Point of Life

Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?"

Matthew 16:24-26

This was my Scripture reading for this morning. I lay down my self, take up my cross, and follow Him whole-heartedly. You've got to die to self if you want to live. Jesus is the point of life.

Simple Family Fun

The Newlyweds were over for dinner last night. It's always a blessing to spend time with them and they are faithful to join us for dinner once each week. They spent a lot of time with the kids; I think Wayne Jr. has been missing his siblings :) Aaawwww.

Wayne Jr. trying out a new game the kids were playing.

Anna & Jordan teaching Kerri & Wayne the rules to the game.

Oh the simple pleasures of a box of sidewalk chalk and a summer day. Andrii & Anna remembered a game they played in Ukraine. They've been here for almost 4 years and this is the first time they've thought of it. We are calling it the Snail Game because they don't remember the Ukrainian name for it. They drew a huge snail on the driveway and made boxes in it. It plays sort of like hop-scotch. They spent all afternoon playing it with Sierra and then after dinner they got Wayne & Kerri in on it. My heart swells with joy when I see them all doing something together. I don't know if it's a game played all over Ukraine or if the kids at the orphanage made it up, but it is a big hit here!

Slava Update

The 2 documents I sent to Ukraine last week arrived on Monday. I'm still waiting to hear if everything looks in order. Yesterday I found out on FRUA (a chat room for Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption) that there is possibly more paperwork for me to do. It seems some families have had to include a "projected income for 2010" letter. For both adoptions we had to include a letter from Wayne's employer, a letter from us stating that I'm a stay at home mom and that it's ok for me to be one, and a copy of our most recent tax return. I've never heard of a projected income letter, so I've emailed our facilitator to inquire about this. So it is possible that I may have yet another document to do up and send out. It's not so bad since I know that the whole dossier won't be submitted until September, but then again September is just around the corner!

It's finally starting to seem real. I've actually begun preparing for Slava's arrival. Jordan's passport arrived yesterday. We are taking him with us to Ukraine. And today while I was out shopping with Andrii & Anna we bought some fleece to make Slava his very own blanket. Fleece blankets are a big thing with us and each family member has one. Mine comes with me to camp and even went to Ukraine with me in 2006. Rest assured, I'll be packing it again! We also bought Slava some pj's, socks, underwear, a couple shirts, 2 pairs of pants, and shoes. I also bought 2 matching fleece jackets, one orange and one blue. I let Jordan pick the one he wanted; He picked orange, so Slava gets blue. Of course I had to guess on all the sizes. In the pictures Slava looks about Jordan's size. Jordan will be turning 7 at the end of this month, but he's just a peanut weighing in at 35 pounds! Typically when you adopt from Ukraine you have to bring a set of clothes for your child to change into when you pick him up from the orphanage. Orphanage clothes stay at the orphanage, it's like community property.

So we continue to wait for Slava. Please keep praying for him and for us. Pray that all the documents will be found in order and that we will have favor with the Ukrainian government. My heart's desire is to be with him on his birthday, Oct. 16th, but I know and pray for God's perfect will to be done. Thank you all, in advance, for your prayers to bring Slava home.

Young Writers

Sierra, Andrii & Anna, along with 3 of the Neighbor Kids, participated in a Young Writer's Workshop at our local library this summer. Here they are with their original bound masterpieces!

Luci & Sierra

Sierra's book isn't quite finished. It's written, but still has to be printed and bound. I told you she writes loooonnngg stories!

Ezra & Andrii

Ezra's book is about a pair of shorts and a hat on quite the adventure, it made me laugh out loud. Andrii's book is about a panda named Ting Ting who also goes on quite an adventure from China to Hawaii.

Anna & Mary

Anna's book is about a girl who meets a good wolf and a bad wolf. She did a beautiful job writing and illustrating it. Mary's is about the new family puppy, Gideon, who goes on a furniture chewing adventure (a true story too).

I Told You He's Dirty Curty!

See, I wasn't kidding! Whether you're 6 or 18 you're never too big for the sand pile! Whenever I catch Curtis in the sand pile (with or without Jordan) my heart feels good.

This One's a Big Hit

It might not look too pretty, but this meal is one of the few that every single family member will eat including the Grandparents (that makes 11 happy tummies)! It is a mixture of ground turkey, spinach, whole wheat penne, and cheese seasoned with a little fresh grated nutmeg. Everyone cheers when I announce it's what's for dinner.

American Andrii

Andrii's Breakfast

This is what happens after 5:30am Karate class!

Andrii & friends heading out for a camp-out in the woods.

Andrii is my Ukrainian 13 year old who prefers to be very American, except at breakfast. He has not liked breakfast cereal since day 1. He is an everything-bagel kind of guy. Lately though he's taken up eating a cup of dry raisin bran crunch with a cup of milk - he does not like them mixed together in the same bowl. This morning I discovered him with his cup of raisin bran with chocolate syrup drizzled over top and his cup of milk on the side...ooookaayyy Andrii. He loves pizza, potatoes, bread, bagels, soup, and chicken tenders with french fries. The other day he leaned back, folded his hands behind his head, and proudly declared, "I have red arm pit hair." TMI, Andrii. He is very pleased at being a red-head. He is a hard working, smart boy. His siblings all enjoy being around him and he's very good with the little kids. We are over-joyed that he is in our family.

My Sierra

My precious first-born daughter certainly keeps things lively around here. She is bursting with energy and creativity. I try to harness some of that energy and unleash it upon household chores; she is a huge help to me around here. If your clothes are washed, dried, folded, and on your bed - thank Sierra. If the floor is clean - thank her. If the kitchen is clean - thank her. And the list goes on. She even makes my bed (I do not ask her to do this, she just gets to it before I do!). She is well compensated for it monetarily along with the perks of weekly piano lessons and Karate for Christ lessons. She's also a writer. I had to sign her up for online writing classes for school because she writes so much. She writes 35 page long (typed, not double spaced) stories, hands them to me and wants me to read them, like right now! My prayer is that God will take all that energy and creativity that He gave her and use it for His glory! This morning as I was headed to the porch for my coffee/quiet time at 7am, I was greeted by Sierra arriving home from a 5:30am Karate class. The neighbor who normally brings her had slept in, so she called her grandfather who was also awake at that hour and he happily took her and Andrii. They knew better than to wake up Mommy at 5:30am!!! I'll make up for it later today with piano lessons and writing class at the library. Yesterday she had a pool party with 7 girl friends from church. As you can see they had a blast! I am an abundantly blessed Mama!

Dirty Curty

This is my boy, Curtis, arriving home from work today. He's not quite as dirty as he sometimes is, but the name "Dirty Curty" actually started when he was around 3 years old. He did not like swimming in the pool and on hot summer days he could be found in sweat pants, a t-shirt, and socks, in the sand pile....all day long! These days he coaxes Jordan to the sand pile to give him "lessons" on how to build a retaining wall or dig for a water-main break. Curt is attending Hudson Valley Community College for Construction and works for his dad in the family construction business. He plans to graduate in the spring and become "Captain of Industry" so his dad can retire!

The Latest

It's been a crazy-busy week. Monday I enjoyed a day at our pool with my beautiful cousin Tracy and her twin boys. Three of the kids are doing a Young Writer's Workshop at the local library and we had the Matthew Project. Last night we had special guests for dinner, the Williams Family & the Whittam Family. What a blessing to enjoy their company, but the visit was way too short! Thursday I finished up the documents I had to redo for the adoption and Fed Ex'd them off to Ukraine. Please join us in praying that all goes well and we will get accepted shortly after our dossier is submitted in September.

Today was the only day this week I actually got to be home all day. We had the neighbor kids over along with the kids Sierra baby-sits for, and of course they all ended up in the pool. I spent part of the day sorting through and organizing our school room. Our August calendar is packed full and it'll be September before we know it. I'm looking forward to starting school and getting everyone into a good routine before we head off to Ukraine for Slava.

Adoption Paperwork Status

I had so much fun posting our family stuff that I almost forgot to give a Slava update. All of our dossier is in Ukraine being translated, but I just got the word that I must redo a document entitled "Letter of Obligation." Apparently I used an old form or something. And the SDA (State Dept. for Adoption) is requesting another "Petition to Adopt Sibling" letter which we've already sent recently but they want it again. In this document we specifically request to adopt Slava. Again! Hopefully this is all that I'll need to redo. Once it's all translated our facilitators will submit it to the SDA in September. Then we just wait for approval and a date for an appointment at the SDA in Kiev. Our facilitator said we won't have to "wait in the regular line" for an appointment since we are adopting a known sibling. I pray he is right. If all goes well we should be traveling in October! And I just learned that Slava's birthday is October 16th...he will turn 5 years old! And for his birthday he will get a family!

Please pray that our dossier will be accepted in September and that we will bring Slava home for his birthday!

May I have a side of pickles please?

At dinner last night Anna ordered her usual: anything with a side of pickles! This child eats 2 jars of polish dill pickles each week. And it's only 2 because that's all I'll buy for her! Food is very important to Anna and she has very Ukrainian taste buds. Her favorite is boiled hot dogs. I do not allow too many hot dogs in the house, but grandma is happy to be her supplier. She once ate 3 boiled hot dogs for breakfast at grandma's! Oh, and saurkraut is a must. She also loves pepperoni, salami, sausage, ham, almost any meat. She loves tomatoes and cucumbers, onions, and salad as well. Her favorite request for her birthday meal is Borsht. Food is definitely her love language. Oh, and candy and ice cream are on top of her list too.

My Parent's Anniversary

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!

Curtis & Bethany

The Newlyweds: Kerri & Wayne

Missy, Sierra & Andrii

My brother & Sister-in-law.

We've had another fun and busy weekend. Saturday we ALL went out to dinner to celebrate my parents' anniversary. All of our kids were there including the newlyweds and my brother and sister-in-law. We had a great time at a local restaurant right out on the Hudson River.