Happy 9th Birthday Jordan!

I can't believe he's 9!

  Tons of family and friends were on hand to celebrate Jordan's birthday Monday night!

 He got tons of gifts (and clothes - my favorite)!  For our gift to him I will be taking Jordan on a date to get some new clothes and we'll go out to eat wherever he wants.  I also owe him a new pair of sneakers.  Last week I bought him a brand new pair of work boots and a new pair of sneakers.  The store was having a sale:  buy 1 pair get a 2nd pair at half price and I had a $10 off coupon.  I felt like I got a good deal.  When we went to camp last weekend he wore the new sneakers and brought a pair of flip-flops too.  Packing up the night before we left I told Jordan to give me his sneakers since I didn't want to forget them, they were brand new after all.  The next morning when we went to leave, I couldn't find them anywhere.  I unpacked bags, searched in and out the camp...no sneakers.  I assumed they were packed and we'd find them once we got home an really unpacked everything.  Well, we unpacked and still no sneakers.  I have this sinking feeling that when he handed them to me I put them in a plastic grocery bag so I could put them in my duffle bag...only I might have thrown them in the garbage instead!  With so many things on my mind and so many things that need my attention, it doesn't surprise me.  But I'm so frustrated because they were brand new!  Grrrrrr!

Birthday Boy blowing out his candles.  

 Anna made the delicious cupcakes.

Jordan on the job site.

Jordan was thrilled to be able to visit the job site where his uncle's crane was removing the cap stones from this historic chimney which dates back to 1848.  This is in the tiny town of Alcove where I grew up.  The Alcove Preservation Assoc. is having it repaired.  Jordan spent half the day on site with his grandpa "supervising" the job.  He's come a long way from being that little "La La" we brought home from Ukraine 5 1/2 years ago!

Camp & Zoo

Last week my friend, Lauri, and I took the kids up to our camp in the Adirondacks for our annual Water Safari excursion.  This was probably the 6th or 7th year in a row that we've done this and the kids always look forward to it.  

Slava's first ever jaw breaker!

 One of the highlights of the trip into Old Forge is a visit to the Candy Cottage.  

Kids playing card games by the lake.

The big kids and Paul Bunyan!

We take one of these pics every year.

 The Adirondacks in mid-August is a big chilly.  We planned to go to Water Safari on Friday but it rained.  That turned into a huge blessing for me.  Since Wayne and Dennis came up Friday night they were on hand Saturday.  The weather was partly cloudy and a sweltering 69 degrees...perfect weather for a water park day!  It was too cold for the little boys (Jordan & Slava don't have much meat on their bones), so Wayne and Dennis took them along to the Woodsmen's Field Days event.  The little boys loved all the wood-cutting, log splitting, lumber jack stuff...

 ...and I enjoyed Water Safari.  Well, I enjoyed sitting in this here lawn chair for 5 hours straight.  I only got up to get my lunch and go to the ladies room.  I plowed through 2 home schooling magazines.  It was my first real vacation all summer.
The Andersons and Wayne left for home Sunday night.  The kids and I stayed until Monday morning so we could go to the Utica Zoo on the way home.

The lion made me a bit nervous!

 We visited the zoo...we are not the zoo!

Slava enjoying his cheeseburger.

Originally I'd planned to stay up at camp the whole week, but after 5 days at Cherry Plains a couple weeks ago and 5 days in the Adirondacks, I'd had enough.  The kids were happy to come home though.  Andrii got back to his job, Sierra started training for her new job at her uncle's laundromat, and even Anna had a baby-sitting job this week.  I've been busy running kids everywhere and trying to get our school room ready.  Sierra started online college courses on Monday.  She's dual-enrolled at Liberty  University for a couple courses and the rest she's doing at home for 11th grade.  All this talk about school makes we realize that summer is almost over!

What A Difference 5 Years Makes!

Jordan (still Sergiy) in December 2006

This picture was taken at our very first "official" visit to meet Jordan.  We got a sneak peek of him a few days earlier through the back door of the orphanage.  At this first visit we brought a doctor with us to evaluate him.  Here the doc was having Jordy string beads.  We couldn't get him to take a good picture because he really didn't look at the camera.  His nick-name in the orphanage was "Ser-o-sha".  

Sierra & Jordan

 What a difference 5 years makes!  This week Jordan got his stitches out and his cast on.  When we arrived for the appointment Dr. Carl was delayed in the O.R. so we crossed the street to have lunch at Panera Bread.  Jordan was thrilled because we got a front row seat to the major construction project at Albany Medical Center.  We see the doctor in 4 weeks for an x-ray and most likely the next surgery will be in January.

Big Boy

Later this month Jordan will turn 9 years old!  Suddenly he's become a little boy instead of a baby boy. Finally he's growing and even maturing...if we could only get him to stop sucking his fingers!  Adopting these kids was the greatest thing we've ever done.  Adoption by Christian parents is investing in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Happy Kids = Exhausted Mom

Last Sunday our family joined 6 other families from our church for a 5 day camping trip to Cherry Plains.  It was an hour ride from home, so Wayne only came up the first couple nights and left from there to go to work each day.  That turned out to be an exhausting job, so the last 3 days he didn't come up. Work is very busy (thankfully) so he couldn't take the time off.   This worked out fine since our daughter-in-law Kerri came up from Tuesday to Friday.  The older kids begged to go on this camping trip and promised to do all the work...sort of!  

Slava, Sun, and Sand

 There was a small lake with a sandy beach which Slava really enjoyed.  He'd swim around then run out and lay in the hot sand to warm up.  Needless to say he had to then go back in the water to rinse off, then repeat the process all over again.  He was my buddy the whole time since the big kids were off with all the other teens from church.

Andrii the Chef with Poppy Ken

 Andrii promised to do all the cooking.  This worked out well for dinner, but I only brought pop tarts and cereal for breakfast.  Thankfully Kerri brought up some bacon and eggs so we had a yummy breakfast at least one morning!  My parents came up one afternoon and stayed for dinner.  Sierra and Anna did all the dishes.  I was on "Slava Duty" and made coffee morning and night!

Sierra showing off her volley ball skills - not!

 The big kids were busy non-stop with volleyball, swimming (not always legally), corn hole, darts, tag, and tons of board games.  With over 35 kids between the 7 families they had a blast.

Jordan 

 Jordan was such a good sport since he couldn't even go swimming post-surgery.  He
 grew up into a big boy the moment we got there.  I barely saw him the whole time since he was off on his bike keeping up with the big kids.  He stopped by on occasion for a soda, a pop tart, or some chips....well we were camping!

Anna, Emma, Laura, & Shannon 

The 5 days flew by and I did survive, but with the realization that "single parenting" isn't for me.  With all of Slava's issues (post coming on that soon) I barely sat still for 5 minutes at a time.  Thankfully friends did step in to help so I could get a break.  Curtis came up Thursday night and stayed over to help us pack up and get home on Friday.  Once we were home, unpacked, and in the throws of 10 loads of laundry, the exhaustion caught up with me.  Today I took a nap, worked on some home school plans, and now I'm getting ready to go out for a much deserved dinner with my hubby.

My Cup Runneth Over...and so does my calendar!

Somehow I assumed that once school was finished things would slow down for the summer...nyet!  I can't remember a busier summer.  This week I found myself very overwhelmed especially when it seems like every time I turn around something gets added to the schedule.  I am so very thankful for our family, for God's provision, for Wayne's work being busy, for good health, for the help that comes along, and for the privilege for being parents to these precious gifts from God.  Yes, my cup runneth over.....

Kashi & Slava

 Kashi & Slava have a love/barely tolerate relationship.  In the 2 years that Slava has been here the poor dog has been poked, whacked, and tormented by Slava, especially in those first several months.  Slava's poor impulse control made it difficult for him to not do something to her whenever she walked by.  He's not mean to her, just irritating.  I snapped this pic during a moment when they were getting along, probably because Slava was feeding her potato chips.

Dr. Jordan & Patient Slava

 I walked into the bathroom yesterday morning to discover Jordan putting a "cast" on Slava using clorox wipes.

Swingin' Slava

...my cup runneth over and so does the calender:
Monday:  Met my sister-n-law for lunch then met with some ladies in the evening to share about adoption/foster care.
Tuesday:  dropped Anna off at a nearby farm where she works with horses, went to a lunch meeting with friends from Bethany Christian Services.
Wednesday:  Ran Andrii to the church for a fife/drum event at 9am, went with the rest of the kids to the Matthew Project (summer feeding program we volunteer at), ran kids home, ran Slava to the social worker appt, somehow Sierra got to her library and babysitting job (I believe Curtis and Wayne shuttled her around), ran to Walmart on the way back from social worker.
Thursday:  morning phone call warning me of lice exposure, check for head lice (no lice, thank you Lord), treat exposed head with pesticide shampoo, have melt-down due to lice threat, Sierra wakes up with swollen gums, run to meeting with a pastor's wife about Orphan Sunday, run home and take Sierra to dentist (infected gums due to a seed embedded in there...now we get to go back on Friday for a laser procedure), run to pharmacy, run home, go to grocery store.  Thankfully Wayne cancelled a meeting he had in order to get the kids to Karate by 5:30 since the  added dentist appt put me behind schedule.
Friday:  Hair cuts for 4 kids, battery dead in car (thankfully my nephew was on hand to jump it), made it to dentist on time....main dentist not there, another dentist cleaned out the infection but now we have another appt next week for the laser thing.  I crashed in a lawn chair by the pool for an hour and asked Wayne to bring home pizza for dinner.  Spent the evening with my cousin who needed some ministering to.
Did I mention the kids begged to go on a camping trip that several other families from church are going on?  Wanting to bless them, I agreed to it.  So on top of all of the above, we're packing, shopping, baking, and getting set up for this 5 day camping trip.  Work is so busy that Wayne can only be with us the first night and the last, but thankfully my daughter-in-law is coming for the middle days to lend a hand.  There are dozens of other things in between the things I mentioned (cleaning, laundry, meals, parenting, paperwork, bill paying, banking, phone calls etc).  Notice I used the word "run" a lot?  It feels like that is all I do.  No trouble sleeping at night for me...only trouble staying awake!  In the shower the other day the Lord told me that I've been doing things in my own strength.  Yes, I hear from God in the shower.  It's one of the only places I go that I'm not distracted.  And yes, I can see where I've been relying on my own strength, which isn't working too well.  Hence the lice-meltdown.  I can also see the devil at work as I've been a threat to his plans.  The enemy doesn't like orphan ministry, marriage ministry, or helping released prisoners.  The attack shouldn't surprise me.  I'm now reading Ephesians 6:10-18 each morning to remember to put on the full armor of God.
Pretty much I just give the Lord my life each morning as I desire to put on Christ, walk where He would have me to walk, do what He would have me to do, and not worry about what I can't do.  I just want to please God and bring glory to His Name.  I am thankful for my over-flowing cup and calendar!