Yes, it's been a busy week here. I've broken the details up into 2 posts, so please make sure to scroll down and read Post #2.
Anna in Missionettes
This is 11 year old Anna. Yes she's Ukrainian, yes she's American, no she's not from the West Bank! Our church missionette program has been studying and praying for the persecuted church. Wednesday night each class did a presentation for the people group they learned about. Anna's class was praying for the believers in Gaza. Sierra's class prayed for Sudanese Christians, and Missy (who took over my class of little girls) taught them about India. Home School Field Trip
A couple of weeks ago we went to Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory in Mass. I love this picture of Anna & Slava. They certainly do look like bio siblings! She is very good and helpful with him. She usually gives him his morning bath by his request. This helps me out because while Slava is soaking Jordan and I are doing his phonics lesson. Like most 11 year old girls Anna loves horses. She is taking bi-weekly horseback riding lessons and loves it. She seems like a natural in the saddle. And like most horse-loving girls her age she's hoping to one day have a horse of her own. I keep telling her "good luck"! I've been asking Dad for a cow or 2 (one to milk and one for beef) and he's not interested! Anna is also a white belt with a blue stripe in karate and she's quite the shot in archery. She wants to be involved in everything all the time. Probably eating is her most favorite activity! Pickles (polish dill) are still at the top of her list with soup, hot dogs, salami, and salad rounding out the top 5. That's my Ukrainian princess! Anna is doing very well in school also. She's in 4th grade and is reading and doing well in math.
I realize that my posts usually just include the glowing reports that sound like the kids are perfect, but that's not accurate at all. In the future I will try to include some of the struggles and challenges our kids (and their parents) have. One issue we've been dealing with is sibling-bickering. Oddly enough my bio kids didn't really have this problem. Wayne Jr. & Curtis (2 1/2 years apart) were always best buddies from day 1. Sierra was 3 when Missy joined our family at age 9 and they were like best friends too. The boys had each other, the girls had each other and that was it. No rivalry, no bossing, no bickering, no arguing...really. That is until Andrii & Anna arrived. I should have been tipped off when they used to argue in Ukrainian before they knew enough English. But that's stopped... now they only argue in English! It's always been at a normal level, however lately it's increased. Maybe because Andrii, at almost 14, has gotten a bit bossy with her or maybe because Anna has to have the last word. On Saturday while I was at NYSSMA with Sierra they both were to help my mom watch Slava since Wayne was on a men's retreat. Grandma had less then glowing reports on the pair. They argued over whose turn it was to watch Slava (come on guys, Gram can't run as fast as Slava), who had him for the longest time, who was going outside with him, etc. They basically argued themselves into cancelled sleepover plans and early bedtimes. We've discussed their behavior and treatment of each other. I've reminded them that they are on the same team. And I've informed them that whenever they begin to argue their consequence will be to sit right down and write 10 nice things about the other. It's been 5 days and I haven't had to issue this assignment yet, but secretly I'm looking forward to the day I do!
Thank you for taking the time to follow my blog. Please remember to scroll down and read part 2. Our family is busy, but we are so very blessed. God is good to us!
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