Abundant Blessings - Part 1

This post is part 1 of a 2 part post. So make sure you scroll down and read part 2 after you read this one!

Sierra

As promised I'm featuring a different "big kid" each week since Slava seems to get all the attention! This week it's Sierra's turn. She is our precious, biological, 14 year old daughter. Sierra is full of creativity and energy! She's smart (a year ahead in school), loves to read (she's read every book on our shelves), is a creative writer, picture taker, video maker, bundle of entertainment! This girl gets her school work done and delivers it to me in a stack. I cringe because then I've got to check it all. She writes stories, well novels actually, thinking nothing of handing me a 10 page, typed (not doubled spaced), story and wants me to read it...like right now! Hence why I signed her up for an online high school writing course. Sierra loves to be active and wants to be doing something all the time: karate (2 days each week), missionettes, flagging, archery, babysitting, youth group, piano lessons, and getting together with her friends. I need a nap just thinking about all the stuff she does in a week! I am blessed too by her help with all the household chores. She does most of the laundry, most of the vacuuming & mopping, is solely responsible for cleaning one of our bathrooms, plus she loves helping with Slava. She even makes my bed mostly everyday, something I've never asked her to do. Oh how blessed I am when I step into my room mid-day and see my bed is already made!
Sierra is very talented on the piano and lives for Tuesday lessons and recitals. In March she will be participating in NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) where her piano skills will be judged. She's also been trying her hand at teaching Sunday School and has signed up for her first missions trip! In August she will be part of a team from our church going to Cambodia to work with In His Steps International. About 6 years ago Wayne & Wayne Jr. made this trip, then 3 years ago Curtis and my dad went, and 2 years ago Wayne Jr. & Curtis went again. I was a little concerned about sending Sierra without a family member to accompany her, but then our daughter-in-law,Kerri, committed to go too. In His Steps is run by friends of ours from our church. You can check out their website at www.ihsionline.org

Well, Sierra is starting to sound like an angelic child. While she's pretty close, none of our kids are perfect! Mostly because they have imperfect parents. One flaw she has, I can never get her to go to bed and therefore, I can never get her up as early as I'd like in the morning...good thing we home school!

Remember to scroll down and check out the post "Abundant Blessings - Part 2." So much has been going on around here that I actually had to blog twice this week!

Abundant Blessings -Part 2

Doctick Slava

For Valentine's Day we gave Slava a doctor kit. He's always using pens and various items pretending to give us shots. The kit was the perfect gift for him! For some reason instead of saying "doctor" he says "doctick" so now that's the word we use too! His English is amazing considering the fact that he's only been home 3 months. Some new words are "because" "over there" (which sounds like oh-ber-dare) and "pizza" which he loves. He's talking in sentences now too and can carry on a conversation. Just the other day he saw Andrii outside playing with the neighbor boy. He came to me and said, "Mama, Slava outside play Andrii Ezra!" How could I say no to that? Outside he went!

Jordan's new cast (not put on by Doctick Slava)!

A couple weeks ago Jordan had a new cast put on. The fiberglass cast acts as a turtle shell protecting the rods in Jordan's spine. Since Jordy is a rough and tumble busy boy the cast gives us some peace when he's playing. This cast will be on for 6 months until his next surgery.

Jordan Horsing Around

Back in October Anna started bi-weekly horse back riding lessons. We put the lessons on hold upon returning from Ukraine with Slava, but today we resumed them. I brought Jordan & Slava with me, and Anna's instructor offered them a ride at the end of her lesson. Both boys were thrilled with this opportunity!

Slava Horsing Around

Anna the Equestrian

Like most girls her age Anna loves horses. Her instructor says she's a natural in the saddle and thought she'd already had lessons before!

Our days are filled with abundant blessings from our Lord. Each day Slava settles in more and learns more, and each day life seems to be getting back to normal...whatever that is! Everyone's back to good health even though a few days ago I thought Jordan might have pneumonia. I took him to urgent care on Sunday, but they didn't think it was pneumonia. A few nights of running the vaporizer in his room seems to have helped tremendously. God is so good!

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.

Life With Kids

Missy

Here's Missy practicing her fiddle; she also plays the piano & guitar. Missy joined our family about 12 years ago just before her 9th birthday. She came to us with a broken heart & deep wounds because her mom died when Missy was 6, her dad abandoned the family when she was an infant, and she'd been being raised by her elderly grandmother who had numerous issues of her own. Missy was a distant cousin of mine, but in 2005 we officially adopted her and she became our daughter. In 2008 she graduated from home school and in 2009 she headed to Ukraine for a 6 month Discipleship Training School with YWAM (youth with a mission). She returned home and began working full time at Delmar Place, an assisted living facility for the elderly. Missy has quite a gift in working with elderly folks. Our years together have been filled with a lot of ups and downs mostly due to Missy's deep wounds that she struggles to deal with. I've not always handled these issues well and even lately find myself wondering why the Lord called us to adopt 4 more kids when we've not done such a hot job with the first one. One thing I do know is that God refines us through the fire, and lately I've had a lot of refining going on in me. God loves us and gives us a free will to make our own choices. Presently Missy is deciding to maybe step out on her own. We're praying for her as she makes this decision and we will support her in whatever she chooses. This is scary for us as parents because we love her and because it's a huge, life changing decision. She knows that if she chooses to go and it doesn't work out she can always come home. She will always be our daughter and this will always be her home. We just don't want to see her get hurt anymore than she already is. I believe God and so I know that He can do exceedingly abundantly beyond what we can ask or imagine (in me & in Missy). This post was approved by Missy.

One lesson the LORD has taught me this week is that He gave me 1 mouth, 2 ears, and 2 knees. I tend to over-use the one mouth and under-use the two ears and two knees. With my mouth I say too much and lecture too much while I'm not stopping to listen or taking enough time to pray. It's not that I don't pray...it's just that my mouth tends to run ahead of my prayers. Basically I react in the flesh instead of walking in the Spirit. Ouch!

Slava & Mama

Since last week we've had a house filled with sick kids. Slava started it with a fever & cough and now it has spread to Jordan, Sierra, and Anna. I think it's basically the flu because it's lasting for at least 5 days. One benefit is that Slava has learned the word "cuddle" and actually wants to be cuddled.

Sierra & Anna

The kids have been having a blast with all our winter weather. As long as it's winter in upstate NY I prefer to have snow so at least the kids can go outside and play. Here the girls were enjoying some mammoth icicles they pulled down off the house. Note Sierra's old school Arctic Cat snow mobile suit. It was mine about 18 years ago!

L to R: Andrii, Jordan, Curtis & Anna

The kids have been pulling out the board games lately. Here they managed to get Curtis to play Pay Day with them. Sierra's in the background playing the piano.

Some other things going on: Slava is really starting to settle in. He cracks us up all the time with his vocabulary. He's learned the phrase, "I don't know" which sounds like "I no no." And he says it all the time while throwing his hands up in the air. We've also been dialoging with him as we teach him, "Mama/Papa boss" "Slava obey." He understands this and is actually beginning to obey when we say "stop," "don't touch," "come," "no," etc. Last night I heard him say what sounded like "what the heck"??? I thought I must have heard wrong, but then he said it again...several times. The other kids were cracking up especially since he'd throw his hands in the air and act frustrated. Clearly he had the concept of what it meant. It was funny, but not funny because we don't want him walking around saying that. I wonder who he learned it from???

Wayne and I are beginning to reenter life again now that things are settling down. Wayne started attending men's Bible study on Monday nights and starting tomorrow night I will be back at women's Bible study. In the past I've always gone on Tuesday mornings, but with home school that just isn't going to work for us. However, I am looking forward to stepping out for an evening of fellowship and the Word with my sisters in Christ. I'm pretty excited about the study too, we're doing Beth Moore's "Believing God" study which so far lines up with the John Bevere "Extraordinary" study that Wayne and I have been doing together. I love it when God does that!

Meet Wayne Jr. and more...

As promised in my last post I am going to feature one of each of our kids in the next several posts. Slava seems to be getting all the attention, but he's not an only child! Our parenting adventure began with Wayne Jr. 21 years ago. I snapped this picture of him when he dropped by Friday night to do some measuring for some replacement windows we are in need of. Our house is as old as he is since we built it and moved in just months before his birth. He has grown into a fine young man of God. He's been married for 7 months now to our precious daughter-in-law, Kerri. He is just 2 courses (6 credits) away from completing his Associates degree in Religion from Liberty University. He's considering continuing with Liberty for a Bachelor's in Business. He's working full time in the family business and doing his courses online part-time while Kerri is taking a full course load with Liberty for a degree in Christian counseling. They are both co-leaders for our church youth group. They have a love for the Lord, for each other, and want to serve Him together. We love them both so much!

Wayne Jr.

Anna

Here is Anna multi-tasking! She takes Slava for 30 minutes each morning right after our Bible lesson. His favorite activity during this time is a bath, so Anna scooted her big, cozy chair into the bathroom, put Slava in the tub, turned on some Casting Crowns music, and curled up to work on her grammar lesson!

Jordan & Mama

Taking some lessons from Anna, I decided to do some unconventional schooling too. Here Jordan and I are cuddled up in my bed with coffee and a phonics lesson!

Papa & Slava

Here Papa and Slava play ice hockey, literally! They were using my spatulas and ice cubes! Slava loved it, but the down side is it leaves lots of wet puddles on the floor...and under the couch!

Slava Season

Slava and his "new" new glasses. Yup, he broke the first pair. When I brought them in to have them fixed I did order a 2nd pair, but this time I selected different frames to accommodate bigger lenses. I'm hoping this will help Slava look through the lenses instead of under them or over them. It's sort of comical how he wanders through the house with his nose in the air while he looks under the lenses to see where he's going. Speaking of noses, I taught him how to "nose kiss" and now he loves to rub noses with me!
Here we're reading books before bed. I've always read to all the kids, but lately the only one getting read to is Slava. He loves to look at books and remembers the pictures and what's happening on each page. He's such a smart boy. He knows how to turn on the microwave and the washing machine too...not that we want him to know this! One thing he's not good at...obeying, especially the word "no"! Mr. Slava is still a lot of work. His English vocabulary grows daily and he's no longer using the bad word these days. We've been home exactly 2 months today. God is so faithful because some of the issues we dealt with those first few weeks are now just a bad memory. Every day he makes progress in all areas and we just love him tons.

Last night Wayne and I had to leave to go to a home school meeting. We are chapter leaders for Coxsackie Area Leah (Loving Education At Home). Slava didn't want me to leave. I had to promise to "come back". He was asleep when I got home, but when he saw me this morning he acted pleased to see me and said, "Ah, Mama. Good." It was nice to get out to the meeting even if we had to endure the frigid freeze to get there. I'm always encouraged by spending time with other home school moms.

I've noticed that Slava gets all the attention in my blog posts these days. I guess it's obvious that we're in the "Slava Season"! In future posts I plan to give updates on all the kids.

Learning Lessons

Anna sporting her new doo.

Aunt Bree giving Slava his new doo too.

We've had some very busy days, so I've not had a chance to update until now. Jordan is recovering nicely from surgery. I'm always amazed at his courage and perseverance. The next surgery will be in 6 months and the doctor said one rod will need to be replaced at that time. But Jordy's back in the swing of things and even went to archery on Saturday.

Slava continues to bond and attach to us. Last week he had his first hair cut (in America anyway). He did very well while Aunt Bree spiffed up his hair. Yesterday we braved the snow and freezing rain to visit the pediatrician again. Our doc wanted to see him again to make sure he is gaining weight. He only gained a few ounces which surprised me because he eats constantly. His new favorite is "chocolateka cereal" - chocolate cheerios. Other favs are: yogurt, cooked carrots, cucumbers, and spaghetti. He did grow 1/4 of an inch though. The doc was pleased that he didn't lose weight and wants to see him in 3 months. Slava was pleased that the "doctick" didn't give him a "boolah" (boo boo) - he remembered getting 3 shots last time!

Slava broke his eye glasses already...which isn't really that surprising to me. But it is frustrating. I'm considering ordering a 2nd pair, so when that happens (and with a busy body like Slava it will happen again) we'll have a spare. But, at $180 a pair I'm not too sure I want to do it. Glasses are not covered by our health insurance.

Our school days are longer than ever lately. With everyone taking a 30 minute turn playing with Slava school is stretching into the 4pm area...ouch. I'm finally starting to adjust to the new season we're in...the Slava season! This has caused me to reevaluate our priorities. Mostly our priorities have always been faith and family first. This is still the case, however I needed to remember that I'm not wonder woman (nor do I want to be) and the priorities help keep me in line. Bible is our top priority each morning. Studying the Word of God, guiding our kids to build their lives on the solid rock foundation of Jesus Christ, and establishing a biblical worldview are the most important "subjects" we cover in our home school. Our #1 goal for our kids: that they walk in a personal relationship with Jesus. But seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33. Whatever academics we cover after that is enough. Trust me, we cover the 3 R's and then some...and meet the State Regs, but What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Matthew 16:26. When our kids become adults we want them to walk with God and not strive for the things of the world. Our other priority is family. And since Slava is family, we are all taking part in his transition into our family's life. And we are all making the transition with him! My friend, Lauri, reminded me the other day that I am a mom with young kids. With all the teenagers floating around, and with a married son, I forget that I have little ones still. Slava, though 5 years old, is really like a 2 year old (going thru the terrible two's) and Jordan, though 7 years old, is really like a 5 year old...when he's not acting like 35! Add the other kids at 13, 14, 18, & 20 all under our roof... the reason why I'm still in my pj's at 7pm comes into focus!

Slava's English vocabulary continues to grow daily. He says so much that I cannot begin to list it all. One new word is "again". He says it all the time. If I say, do you want milk? He'll say, "Milk, again!" However he's learned another word "cleaning" which he doesn't quite get the meaning of yet. If you hand him a towel he will wipe up a spill and say, "Slava cleaning." But he also loudly corrects us with it. For example, Curtis picked him up and twirled him around which he loved, but when Curtis set him back down Slava exclaimed (with hand motions), "Curtis, Stop Cleaning!" He just cracks us up. We are all growing in our love for this little guy.