Our Home Today

Anonymous said... What are the sleeping arrangements like in your house? I'm assuming that your kids share rooms, how does that work out? Do you sort by age? By genders? By when they entered the family? January 21, 2011 8:06 PM

Kathy said... Hi, first I want to say I love your blog. I've lurked for a long time. I just love reading about the closeness of your family. My questions are...How do you handle sleeping arrangements? How many kids are there per bedroom ? The reason I ask is I try to give my teens their own space and that works really well for them, but my twins share a room and they fight like cats and dogs.Second question is how did you get involved in doing respite? I think I would like to do it, maybe for families who have adopted from Haiti and Africa.Thanks in advanced and have a blessed day. January 23, 2011 4:29 AM

It is hard to believe that this used to be what our home looked like when we first moved in. The inside was no different. It has come a long way though.... we have come a long way. I must say the journey has not been easy-- so many of us are still dealing with our "home sickness."

This is what are backyard looks like today.

I show it because it is an extension of our house. The kids love it back here-- and when weather permits this is where they are.

The trampoline was the best gift in the whole wide world for our family. It is played on for hours everyday!

Our home has seven bedrooms. William, Paul, Andrew, and Jonny share this room. At our other house the boys were split- but this works so much better for them. They each have one dresser drawer, one bin underneath the bed, and they all share the closet.

It is more than enough space because right outside their room is this loft where they play and horse around.

It is a huge blessing to have this linen closet. It too becomes another play room.

This is John and my bedroom. The extra bed works out great for naps and midnight visitors.

Julia crocheted the round pillows to match our bedding.

Since we don't watch much television anymore, I have began reading again. The glass, peach jar is a gift that John gave me many years ago. It is filled with all the reasons why he loves me, and though I don't read through them very often, it sits as a reminder that I do have a most wonderful and loving husband.

When choosing whom the girls would share a room with, we took a few things into consideration. Not only did we want to consider their input, but we also put the girls together who we thought would compliment each other according to their strengths and weaknesses.

This is Galina and Julia's room.

Annalyn and Rachel share this room.

Sveta, Anna, and Anastasia share this Justin Beiber shrine for a bedroom.

Alex and Dennis share this room-- they share the bottom bed too since they don't like being alone.

Adam and Caleb share the only bedroom downstairs.

For me, pictures help turn a house into a home. Though I have displayed a lot of them, as you can see I still have lots to do. In the corner is our family sock basket.

This is our family room.

This is our office where all the computers are out in the open.

Tara said...
What would you do if one of your children was gay? Whether or not you think it is a choice, what if your child came to you. This is a very honest question and I'm just curious to know how you guys would handle that. I hope this is not too personal but if it is, please don't answer :)Take care Christine
January 22, 2011 12:10 AM

Interestingly enough, I got this question more than once. Though it is a personal one, I don't mind answering it. Had you asked me 10 years ago, my answer would have been very different. I am embarrassed at what my answer would have been back then. But God has changed me and taught me lots about love. If one of my children came to me and shared that they were gay, I would choose to love them above all else. Honestly, I am not sure how that would look like right now because I cannot say how God's influence will have changed me even more by then and I would have to get over the initial shock, but I know that I would choose to love.... period.

Anonymous said...
How much, if any, Russian is spoken by the children among one another? Have any struggled a lot in learning English? Do you try to maintain some knowledge of their native language or is the focus on English? I know that's alot of questions, but I would love to read a post on language in general and weather losing their first language causes sadness or regret in any of your children. Thank you! Love the question posts.
January 22, 2011 9:24 AM

Our Russian is really bad so we don't use it too much unless we are fooling around. Even Anastasia and Paul rarely use their Russian anymore even when a Russian relative comes over like the other day. I think they just really want to communicate with all of us in English and so they choose to loose their native language because it is hard to maintain two languages. This doesn't seem to generate much sadness for any of our kids-- and they don't harbor any ill feelings that we ripped them from their culture. I think all of them realize that the love of a family outweighs the loss of their native language. Six months later, their understanding of the English language is still minimal, but they are growing by leaps and bounds every day! I am certain that they are learning faster than I would be if the tables were reversed.