Exceeding Abundantly Above

Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worth in us.  Unto Him be glory...   Ephesians 3:20

It's been a long winter, but God has been faithful and blessings abound!  

I came home from a day of appointments and found the kids all outside and playing with these giant icicles.  We've been studying the American Revolution and it has affected their play time!

Icicle Guns!

Jordan, Slava, Neighbor Mary, and Anna

Slava - Burrito Bongo!

 Slava often has trouble managing himself and deep-pressure touch helps him to regulate.  I'm always on the look out for ways to help him manage.  He has a weighted blanket which I wrap him in burrito-style when he feels the need.  The other day I added these weighted core discs and played "bongos" on him.  He loved it!

Patriots!

 We've been watching the Liberty's Kids dvd series as part of our history curriculum.  We've also been following the current events in Ukraine since our kids are from there, we have friends there, and it's a country near-and-dear to our hearts.  While watching an episode of Liberty's Kids which included a battle between the Patriots and the British, Jordan commented, "This looks like what's going on in Ukraine."  Hmmmm, very good observation, my son!

Baby Shower Shenanigans!

 Sierra, Missy, Anna, & Kerri (opening gift).

We finally were able to pull off a baby shower for Kerri.  Between snow storms, sickness, and Iona arriving early, this was no small fete!  

Me and my girls!

 L-R (Anna, Kerri w/ Iona, Me, Missy, & Sierra)

Sending off a son.

 Recently our pastor's son, Sergey, who was adopted from Ukraine over 10 years ago, embarked on a new adventure.  He headed back to Ukraine to do a Discipleship Training School (DTS) with Youth With A Mission (YWAM).  He's with a team that works with older kids in orphanages.  Serg has a heart to minister to orphans in Ukraine, as he had been one.  In the pic Pastor Stan is preparing to pray for his son.  On the left is Victor, Sergey's younger bio brother.  These 2 young men know what "adopted to sonship" really means.

JFO - "Love In Action" wrist band fundraiser.

 We are currently preparing for our biggest JFO event to date.  Our Love In Action - Finding Families For NY's Waiting Children event on May 16th is a foster care focused event.  Our fundraiser includes these wrist bands we're asking a $3 donation each for.  Let me know if you'd like one...or ten!  To learn more visit our website:  http://justicefororphansny.org

JFO's Justice Conference booth!

 Wayne decided to take our little boys skiing for the weekend recently, so I used the opportunity to represent JFO at the Justice Conference in Clifton Park, NY.

Radio Show Recording

 This is my view front the hosts' seat for our radio show Orphans No More.  For this episode we interviewed Stepan & Oksana Terletsky of Mercy Trucks Ukraine (pictured on the laptop).  It was our first attempt to record a show from a remote location, in this case Ukraine.  In the background is Mary's son, Kireel.  He was watching from the producer's studio.  You can listen to past episodes of the show by visiting our website http://justicefororphansny.org and click on "Events" and then "Radio Show".

Slava's Stitches

 Friday evening, while everyone was out and I was home all by myself (a rare occurrence) the phone rang beckoning me to urgent care.  Slava was bitten by a friend's dog.  With Slava's many issues, impulse control and reasoning are weak points.  He has pulled a very large dog's tail and was bitten as a result.

 He got 3 stitches in his left cheek, 1 on his head, and 5 in his ear.  He's on an antibiotic and we're watching him closely.  When I discussed with him that we should never touch a dog, he pretty much declared that if that dog bit him again he'd punch it.  I guess we still have a lot of work to do!

Singing Sisters

Missy stopped by the other day to practice music with Sierra.  Missy works at an assisted living facility and she's had Sierra come in to play the piano for the residents.  Now they're  working on some songs together.  I was blessed to hear their music!  

So that's what's been going on here!  Feeling very blessed!