The week has been going well since I got back from my weekend at the beach. Though I was fully prepared to live out the weekend with a mug of hot chocolate in hand playing Balderdash with my friends, God had other plans. My weekend consisted of long walks on the beach and lounging on the "poop deck". It was a time to confide in friends new and old, and to comfort one who I hadn't hugged in months.
The food was great, but the fellowship was better.
Claudette and myself taking a stroll on the beach.
I just love these two crazy ladies! Tina and Jennifer always come up with the most outrageous get-ups! Too fun!
After driving around way too long we found a restaurant. Tina and I decided to share the chicken piccata. As we divided up our plates, I was left with majority of the delicious wine sauce. Tina politely asked if she could dip her chicken in my sauce. I didn't mind and so she went ahead and dipped nearly every bite of her food in my sauce. As people watched us, I can only imagine what crossed their minds. But who cares! You should have seen us share our chocolate molten cake!
For whatever reason, I brought home lots of food from the weekend including some "gag me" hummus spinach dip. A quick dare by one of the kids turned into a hummus eating contest. Galina bowed out quickly, followed by Rachel and then Jonny. Sveta won first and later Anna finished up her hummus sandwich so that they each won ten bucks! I am pretty sure the kids will not forget this and will be laughing about it for years to come.
Rachel asked if she could make Ukranian candy that her and her brother used to make-- a long time ago. I was not too excited at first but I knew Rachel would enjoy making it and the kids would enjoy eating it-- so why not? Later that evening some wonderful memories were shared about "orphanage life".
One thing I was not expecting was when Annalyn opened up. Up until this evening Annalyn had always been sad and teary-eyed when sharing about her prior life. Having been mentally, spiritually, verbally, and physically abused was no laughing matter... until now. As she openly confided to her sisters and I, she broke out into laughter. I encouraged it and we all laughed along with her. After all these years she was finally laughing about it. Why? Because she was free. She was finally no longer the victim and she could finally feel sorry for the people who hurt her most. And like I said-- I was not expecting this. And yet, I could see that my daughter was finally free-- free-- to be who she was meant to be. And wow, what an unexpected gift.
The kids love when I buy them something special-- something as simple as a bag of peanuts. Paul spent nearly an hour shelling a handful so that he could take the peanuts for his school snack. He was proud-- his smile said it all!
This picture of Julia and Adam made me smile. She is helping him with his socks because after all-- it is a long way for him to reach down to his feet.
Tonight we are having meatloaf. The kids were so excited to help that Anastasia was happy to cut onions. Soon she realized why I always cry when I cut onions. Bless her heart though.. she stuck it out till the job was done.
Julia baked cookies.
And I had fun chasing my kids around with the camera while they had their mouths stuffed with their afternoon snack!
Gotcha!
Anna was a great sport and smiled! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Caleb is going to Mexico next week-- for his first official mission trip. Is it preparing him for something bigger? Only time will tell. Dennis went to the occularist on Monday, the dentist on Tuesday, and will see the ENT tomorrow. I also registered him for kindergarten. Today I had William's IEP-- and I am not pleased with how it went. I agreed to reconvene in a week to meet with the special ed director, but now I am having second thoughts. William wants out of speech, with cutbacks I am having second thoughts as to what more they can do, and with William being homeschooled next year-- I feel like I am done with this battle. I pray for peace about this turn of events as I hand this one over to God once and for all. We only have a few more weeks of homeschool, but I am determined to finish strong. So are the kids!
The food was great, but the fellowship was better. 
Claudette and myself taking a stroll on the beach. 
I just love these two crazy ladies! Tina and Jennifer always come up with the most outrageous get-ups! Too fun! 
After driving around way too long we found a restaurant. Tina and I decided to share the chicken piccata. As we divided up our plates, I was left with majority of the delicious wine sauce. Tina politely asked if she could dip her chicken in my sauce. I didn't mind and so she went ahead and dipped nearly every bite of her food in my sauce. As people watched us, I can only imagine what crossed their minds. But who cares! You should have seen us share our chocolate molten cake! 
For whatever reason, I brought home lots of food from the weekend including some "gag me" hummus spinach dip. A quick dare by one of the kids turned into a hummus eating contest. Galina bowed out quickly, followed by Rachel and then Jonny. Sveta won first and later Anna finished up her hummus sandwich so that they each won ten bucks! I am pretty sure the kids will not forget this and will be laughing about it for years to come. 
Rachel asked if she could make Ukranian candy that her and her brother used to make-- a long time ago. I was not too excited at first but I knew Rachel would enjoy making it and the kids would enjoy eating it-- so why not? Later that evening some wonderful memories were shared about "orphanage life". 
One thing I was not expecting was when Annalyn opened up. Up until this evening Annalyn had always been sad and teary-eyed when sharing about her prior life. Having been mentally, spiritually, verbally, and physically abused was no laughing matter... until now. As she openly confided to her sisters and I, she broke out into laughter. I encouraged it and we all laughed along with her. After all these years she was finally laughing about it. Why? Because she was free. She was finally no longer the victim and she could finally feel sorry for the people who hurt her most. And like I said-- I was not expecting this. And yet, I could see that my daughter was finally free-- free-- to be who she was meant to be. And wow, what an unexpected gift. 
The kids love when I buy them something special-- something as simple as a bag of peanuts. Paul spent nearly an hour shelling a handful so that he could take the peanuts for his school snack. He was proud-- his smile said it all! 
This picture of Julia and Adam made me smile. She is helping him with his socks because after all-- it is a long way for him to reach down to his feet. 
Tonight we are having meatloaf. The kids were so excited to help that Anastasia was happy to cut onions. Soon she realized why I always cry when I cut onions. Bless her heart though.. she stuck it out till the job was done. 
Julia baked cookies. 
And I had fun chasing my kids around with the camera while they had their mouths stuffed with their afternoon snack! 
Gotcha! 
Anna was a great sport and smiled! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Caleb is going to Mexico next week-- for his first official mission trip. Is it preparing him for something bigger? Only time will tell. Dennis went to the occularist on Monday, the dentist on Tuesday, and will see the ENT tomorrow. I also registered him for kindergarten. Today I had William's IEP-- and I am not pleased with how it went. I agreed to reconvene in a week to meet with the special ed director, but now I am having second thoughts. William wants out of speech, with cutbacks I am having second thoughts as to what more they can do, and with William being homeschooled next year-- I feel like I am done with this battle. I pray for peace about this turn of events as I hand this one over to God once and for all. We only have a few more weeks of homeschool, but I am determined to finish strong. So are the kids!
6 inspiring thoughts:
A very fun weekend! Thank you for letting me tag along!!!
wow - fun refreshing weekend with the ladies and a busy week with the kiddos - I always read the blog - have for years....just now commenting. :)
Hi Christine. I've been volunteering with this craft group for a while and I thought you might like their new project: they are making bracelets for orphans in Russia. Maybe you and your kids would like to join in or maybe you could publicize it on your blog... Here is the link: http://crafthope.com/2011/04/project-12-orphan-outreach/
Hi!I am sorry the IEP with William did not go so well. I have hired an lawyer in the past who aided me in getting my children the support services they needed from the school district.I have homeschooled my children and still was able to receive supportive services- speech, ot ,pt from the school district. I had to take my child to the support services the school district offered because the school district did not provide transportation.But my son had the same support professional for a couple of years and he was making progress so I did not mind transporting.Contact some national homeschooling organizations they may have a list of professionals who offer consultation services for pt, ot, speech via the telephone or computer viewing assessments.The professionals who I knew about had consultation fees that were very low and actually were quite helpful for many families .Good luck with your school district battle. Pat
Looks like you guys had a wonderful time at the coast.
You are so blessed to have such wonderful friends to get away with! and a precious family to come home too! we moms, need that from time to time!
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