Father's Day Weekend

We spent Father's Day weekend up at our camp in the Adirondacks. The kids were so excited to be back up at camp and it was Slava's first time. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive. Slava kept saying, "Come on, Mom. Camp." I think it's the longest he'd ever ridden in the car and he couldn't understand why it was taking so long. Once we got there he kept saying,"Slava house, Slava camp. Why Slava camp?" Once he got settled in though, he loved it.

Surprise, Surprise!

This pic was taken at home not at camp. Surprise #1: Wayne is wearing shorts. Those legs never see the light of day! Surprise #2: Wayne is swinging with Jordan...I've never seen him on the swings before!

Anna & Slava on the tube.

"Slava swimming!" was Slava's proclamation all weekend! With the life-jacket on he had no fear about jumping into the lake.

Andrii on the jet ski!

He thought he was pretty cool driving the jet ski by himself this year!

Sierra & Anna on the tube, Andrii speeding by on the jet ski.

One handsome guy!

I was so pleased that Curtis joined us too. Wayne & Kerri went to the Cape for their anniversary and Missy had to work, so Curtis was the only "big-kid" with us. On Saturday night he took Sierra, Andrii, Anna, and Jordan to see "Mr. Popper's Penguins" at the theater in Old Forge. We all had a great family time. Camp is Wayne's favorite place to be so it was very fitting to be there for Father's Day.

Let Summer Begin!

We are officially done with school! Hmmm...what will I do with all of this time on my hands? Actually I'm working on setting some summer goals for myself, the kids, the house, etc. because 10 weeks will fly by, and we cannot afford to waste the time. At convention I picked up a family-homeschool-planner "the Well Planned Day" which I can't wait to dive into. I like to be organized. My homeschool is pretty organized, my home maybe not so much. But a homeschooling family requires a certain amount of organization or else one feels as if they're drowning in the daily onslaught of life. The planner is designed by the same family who publishes the magazine "Home Educating Family" which I just subscribed to. I brought home 2 issues of the magazine from convention also, and I've been devouring them. If you homeschool, I highly recommend this new magazine.

Jordan & Slava riding in the Gator.

My prayer is that these brothers will become buddies. Jordan still has a low tolerance for Slava and just prefers bossing him around instead of actually playing with him. Slava likes to swat at his bossy brother which sends Jordan tattling and lands Slava in timeout. It's only 9am and Slava has already been in time-out twice. Slava has the upper body strength of a mosquito, so the swats don't pack much punch, but still he must learn that hitting is unacceptable.

Slava - Looking Good!

Slava is healing nicely from eye-muscle surgery. His eyes are looking straight and the red is clearing up. Next month he will see his doctor again and probably have his eye glasses changed.

Sierra, Andrii & Anna all participated in the Karate For Christ promotion test. They should know in a week or 2 if they are promoted.

Sierra in the center.

Andrii in mid kick. Sensei Calvin wouldn't let up on him.

He had Andrii fight until he put his heart into it.

Anna posing for the camera.

Happy 1st Wedding Anniversary to our son Wayne Jr. and his precious bride Kerri. They are spending a long weekend in Cape Cod to celebrate.

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"I Love God!"

Curtis graduated from Hudson Valley Comm. College with an Associates degree in Construction Management. He's decided to pursue his Bachelor's degree maybe at Alfred State or SUNY Utica. In the meantime he's working full time in the family construction business and part time in the family sand pile! I am just so blessed when he hops out of his work truck and into the sand box with the kids.

Curtis & Jordan

Sierra, Andrii, Wayne, and I enjoyed our time at the home school convention in Rochester. Wayne Jr. & Kerri were none the worse for wear after holding down the fort while we were gone. They moved in Thursday night and stayed with Anna, Jordan, and Slava while we were gone. It was a huge blessing to me to be able to go. We're entering our 11th year of home educating our kids and haven't missed a convention yet.

Sunday afternoon our home was the site of our church youth group's end of year picnic. The youth leaders were in charge, so all we had to do was fellowship with the youth. We have a great bunch of youth and it was a blessing to spend time with them. They kept busy playing volley ball, swimming, jumping on the trampoline, warming up by the fire, toasting marshmallows, and hiding from the mosquitoes!
Here Wayne Jr. leads the group in a few worship songs while Anna (not old enough for youth group) gets a front row seat to the festivities.

Slava. There is always so much to say about this boy. The other night I was reading his Bible to him at bedtime when I had to run out to the kitchen to take something out of the oven. When I returned to his room I found him still looking at his Bible and proclaiming out loud, "I love God. I love God." I was so blessed to witness it and can only imagine how blessed God was to witness it also. Sunday in church I brought him to the altar for prayer since he is having eye muscle surgery on both eyes on Thursday 6/9 at 10:30am. When I asked him if he wanted to go up for prayer he ran to the altar! He didn't want me to hold him. He wanted to stand on the altar, and he proclaimed, "I love God," again. Pastor Stan came over and explained to Slava that he was going to anoint him with oil on his head and pray for him. Slava smiled, nodded, and said, "Yeah, I know." Then he closed his eyes and folded his hands and prayed.
And he has discovered the swimming pool! As busy as he is, Slava has been pretty cautious by the water. We keep a life jacket on him, but he'd only been brave enough to put his feet in. Today though with it being in the 90s I actually ventured out to the pool and into the water. By the end of the day he was jumping off the side and into my arms. He did this about 100x, but he'd only jump to me. When I finally got out he was willing to jump to Andrii. I'm sure he'll be swimming like a fish very soon.

Please keep Slava in your prayers as he goes to surgery. Pray that all goes smoothly. Jordan had this same surgery 3 years ago, so we know what to expect. It is a 2 1/2 hour surgery, but we'll be home the same day.

I love God too!

Memorial Day Weekend - Part 1

We had such a busy week end that I had to break it up into 2 posts. Please be sure to scroll down to read part 2.

Saturday we celebrated the marriage of Elias & Holly Anderson. Elias is the son of our dear friends and neighbors, Lauri & Dennis. The bride & groom just graduated from Liberty University in Virginia. The ceremony was at the scenic Catskill Point on the Hudson River. The reception was at Anthony's in Catskill where we all had a great time. The couple is presently honeymooning in the Dominican Republic. Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Elias Anderson!

Wayne Jr. & Kerri at the reception.

They are about to celebrate their 1st wedding anniversary!

Wayne & Missy dancing!

What a lovely father/daughter picture!

Bethany & Curtis

Both just graduated from HVCC!

Sierra, Andrii, Wayne, and I are getting ready to leave for Rochester today for the annual LEAH Home School Conference. I am so blessed to be able to go. For a while it didn't seem likely because of Mr. Slava, but my precious son and daughter-in-law are moving in for the 2 nights we will be gone. They will be watching Anna, Jordan, and Slava. I have peace leaving Slava even though it will be the first time we've ever been gone from him over night. He has bonded with Wayne & Kerri and absolutely loves "Kerri-Kerri" so I know he will be fine.

Be sure to scroll down and read Part 2 and see what a "bang-up" time Slava had this past weekend...

Memorial Day Weekend - Part 2

We had a wonderful weekend with many "firsts" for Slava. His first "first" was driving Papa's golf cart...into Papa's new truck! I'm not sure who needed a time-out more, Slava or Wayne. After all, Papa had him outside in the garage when he decided to drive up the road in the street rod telling Slava to go into the house. Instead of going into the house Slava got into the golf cart where much to his pleasure the keys were in the ignition. He hit reverse and slammed into the truck, then went forward and bumped into the lawn mower. I was just opening the door to deliver a message to Wayne when I heard the big bang. Aside from a bump on the leg Slava didn't get hurt...thank you, LORD. As Wayne pulled back into the driveway and saw the damage (the dent in the truck and a bent golf cart frame) he got back into the street rod and drove up the road again. I guess he was putting himself in time-out! Slava is so busy, so fast, and so smart that it's virtually impossible for us to keep up with him every second, and it only takes a second for him to get into trouble!

The dent in Papa's new truck.

We opened the pool this weekend too. We've had an in-ground pool for 17 years with a fence all the way around it with a gate that locks. However, because of swift, savvy, Slava, we just purchased a pool alarm. If he were to figure out a way over the fence and into the water a very loud alarm will sound outside and in the house. Daily I pray for his safety and for the diligence to watch over him; I've even asked the Lord to assign him an angel (we need all the help we can get)! I know the Lord was watching over him in the golf cart episode because he really could have been hurt, but he walked away with only a bump on the leg.

Anna (on left with flag), Slava, Jordan, & Sierra (with hat).

Another "first" for Slava was his first Memorial Day parade. We went to Albany early Monday morning to watch the parade. Missy and Andrii marched with the Jubilee Fife & Drum Corps.

Andrii on the bass drum.

Slava also enjoyed his very first trip to the drive-ins. Wayne & I took Sierra, Andrii, Anna, Jordan, and Slava. We joined up with several families from our church to watch Kung-fu Panda 2. Slava had fun wandering around with our crowd before the movie. When the movie started I put him on my lap in the front seat and placed a big bucket of pop corn in front of him. Of course he had no interest in the movie, but he had a grand ole time popping pop corn into his mouth with one hand and throwing some out the window with the other hand. This kept him busy for quite some time. About a half hour into the movie he fell asleep on my lap where he remained until we arrived home and Papa put him into bed.

Jordan

Heavy duty excavation going on in our sand pile!

Anna