Seasons of Change

Curtis

As promised, I'm featuring each of the kids in the blog, and now it's Curt's turn. He is our 2nd born, and it's hard to believe that this handsome young man was once fondly known as "Dirty Curty"! He earned that name as a little guy who preferred being in the sand box in sweatpants, t-shirt, and socks, on a 90 degree day instead of in the swimming pool with the rest of us. Now he's almost 19 and ready to graduate from community college. He still loves to play in the dirt though, and in May will have earned his associates in applied science degree at Hudson Valley Community College for Construction Management Engineering Technology. He works with his dad in the family business which involves lots of digging in the dirt since it's a general contracting/excavation business. His dad's hoping Curt will hurry up and graduate so he can take over and Dad can retire! About a year ago Curtis prayerfully made a switch to a new church. We gave our blessing because we knew it was a good church (Wayne's parents attend there), but we also told him we expected to see growth in his relationship with the Lord and we didn't expect him to just be there warming a pew. Curt is growing, has lots of friends there, has a good relationship with his new pastor, and hopes to be playing drums on the worship team in the near future.

This is one of my favorite pics of my boys! Curtis was Wayne Jr.'s Best Man last June.

Anna, Kerri, Sierra, Sandra, & Missy

I love this pic of me with my girls!

Kerri put a bunch of wedding pics up on Face Book recently and I just snatched a few for my blog. As I was going through them Slava was sitting on my lap. He kept pointing and saying the names of all the people he knew. He even pointed out that some were at church and some were at home. It amazes me that though Wayne Jr. and Kerri aren't here all the time, he still seems to know that they are a very important part of our family. In all the pics of Kerri he'd point to her and say, "Kerri big pretty" and he'd point to Wayne Jr.'s pics and say "Wayne big funny" (cuz he was smiling a lot)! Recently Kerri stepped down from her nannying job to devote more time to her full time college schedule. However, she's now coming to our house 2 days each week for about 3 hours each day to work/play with Slava while we're doing school. I've been really working with him on counting, number recognition, colors, etc. He's really smart, but he has a very short attention span. Kerri coming gives us a little break so we can really concentrate on school, Slava gets some one on one constructive playtime, and of course we all get to see more of Kerri! This is such a blessing. The Lord really knows what we need and when we need it!

Some more changes are taking place around here. Andrii has officially moved down stairs with Curtis. We had to purchase a bed for him and it was finally delivered last week. He's thrilled to not have to share a room with Jordan and Slava, and he's now got his own bed instead of sleeping with Slava. Curtis wasn't exactly thrilled to lose his private space. He's had his own room since June when Wayne Jr. got married and moved out. We didn't have any other options, and he is being a good sport about it. Except the other day when he asked me (in front of the other kids) to tell Andrii to stop rearranging the stuff in the bathroom. Sierra asked him, "How much could he possibly move, everything is bolted down." We all busted out laughing. I explained that Andrii hadn't moved the toilet or the tub, probably just the toothpaste and shampoo! Sometimes Sierra can be just as blond as her Mama!

Most of the kids are getting better from all the sickness we had, but I had to take Anna to the doctor today. She might have strep; we'll know tomorrow, so no church for her tonight again. Missy has not yet made a decision on moving. We're giving her time to make her choices. I want to thank everyone for their continued prayers. I appreciate those of you who faithfully pray for us and follow this blog. I pray that you all will be encouraged by following us on this extraordinary journey the Lord has us on.