Spring has finally arrived! It is a balmy 84 degrees outside and we are loving it. Soccer practice and games have begun. The boys weeded my vegetable garden yesterday so we can get going on growing some of our own food again. The baby chicks we got before Easter are getting a lot bigger too. New life is all around us!
And life has been wonderful, if not busy. We had a great week of Spring Break this past week following a fun Easter, but now it is back to school, nose to the grindstone time!
Our kids are all continuing to adjust beautifully. We really couldn't ask for better! There have been a few very minor bumps in the road that naturally come along with teenagers adjusting to the newness of family and finally having a Mom and Dad to answer to, but that is to be expected. The Lord has blessed us with some incredible and resilient children who have come out of orphanages WAY better than I could ever have. And as I told someone yesterday, they are all my heroes. Truly. To have gone through the lives they have lived and still have trust, love to give, the ability to be close and to function with siblings and parents in every day life the way they do, is nothing short of incredible. I will say it again, we are BLESSED!
So as life has moved along I have again realized that my blog has gone by the wayside, so I wanted to give this update to show you what has been happening, and to shed a little light on the BUSY month I have ahead.
First, enjoy some pictures of what we have been up to!!
We welcomed home a good friend from Bronwyn and Leo's orphanage. They were soooo excited to see her and she is so glad to finally be home with her Momma and Papa!!
Easter was a very fun time at our house this year! Easter egg dying, a hunt, lots of food and of course some pretty cool baskets from the Easter Bunny ;)
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| Yep 10 baskets sure is a lot to fill!! |
Tim and Leo tried their hand at making borscht.... it turned out pretty well!!
Charlotte decided to try her hand, or rather foot, at kicking the soccer ball around during kids' practices....
Now that this little spitfire can walk, there is no limit to what she can do! She is on the go, go, GO every day!!
Leo, Gideon and Grayson had fun visiting the local airport with us during one of our homeschool field trips!
And of course, we have had a few of the not so fun moments...... hospital visits, chemo at home that Mommy has to give via injection :( So not fun!! But we have made it through ok. Atticus's hair hasn't though!
Heehee!!! Loving some pizza!
So now on to what is coming up!
We have a pretty busy April going on let me tell you!
First we are off to Charleston this weekend, the kids and I, to visit some dear friends who relocated there a year ago. Nothing like the beach! We are going so I can bake her some yummy desserts to serve at the grand opening of her Pure Barre location off King Street! I am so proud of her and her entrepreneurial spirit! I will be making some cookies, cupcakes and cake pops for her party. Can't wait!!
Then, drumroll please!...........................the day after we return I am off to UKRAINE!
I am so excited and grateful to be going on this trip with a friend who is adopting from the same orphanage Charlotte and Atticus were in. I am excited to go and help her with her two new sons during visits, and later perhaps return again to help on the trip home. I can't wait to bring letters to our kids former nannies and show them how well they are doing here at home. I am also excited to do little things like ride the bus and hit some of our old eateries, and see our good friend Natalya who helped us out so much while we were there in a strange country.
I am also excited that I am going to get to bring some things to the orphanage to help the children out, mainly diapers, toiletries, etc. This is a very poor orphanage with limited supplies and resources, so I am taking up a monetary collection so that we can buy them a good supply of diapers while we are there.
If you happen to be interested in contributing to the fund, please leave me a comment or send me an email at jurowe@vnet.net
Hopefully while there I will also get to visit the orphanage Bronwyn and Leo lived at for so long. I am hoping to be able to bring them some goodies and supplies as well. I will be bringing pictures of the kids and letters from them to their friends left behind. I can't wait to show those to the director so she can see how well they are doing too!!
Then...... in the beginning of May is the Orphan Summit held this year in Nashville, TN!!! I am thrilled to be attending this for the first time ever and can't wait to hear the speakers, talk to the other adoptive parents, and learn more on not only how to parent my adopted children, but also learn more about spreading the word on orphans to others. It will be a spectacular weekend I am sure and I can-not-wait!!!
So that is our life right now in a nutshell. Busy and full but FUN! And I wouldn't want it any other way.
Please pray for my upcoming trip that it might be safe and that I might be of some help while I am there. :)
