To Brighten Your Day

Her giggles never fail to brighten my days and bring a smile to my face. :)

Sunday Lessons

Another Sunday has past.  They go by so quickly!  This Sunday was the third Bible lesson that I have given.  It has been so exciting to give these lessons and God gave me a good "pupil".  Gala gets so into her lessons and everything is so new to her.  It makes it even more fun for me.  But at the same time it has been humbling and I almost cry at the end of every lesson.  Why?  I can't exactly put that into words.  I'm just so excited and nervous.  Please continue to pray for me that God will give me the words to say and that the Holy Spirit will give her the understanding and conviction to be saved.  She already readily admits she is a sinner, so that's a step.  Also pray that the kids behave during this time.  Our second lesson was a little harder for me because I had one sick kid and the rest kept needing something too.

Following services and Bible studies, Eric brought all the kids with him except Anna and Abigail to bring everyone home.  Anna and I enjoyed this girls' time alone and took advantage of it to play a game of Go Fish. 

As you can see, I am quite awful at it...or I have a little card shark on my hands.

Then we had some fun with the camera.  

 She took some silly pictures of me too, but don't think I'll be posting those. ;)

When Lydia got back she decided to try her hand at GoFish too.

I think I just may be their favorite person to play against.

I'm still planning on sharing with you pictures from when our visitors came in September.  We had such a great time with them and they were a HUGE blessing.  Tonight though, I am too tired.  Hopefully I can get to it this week.  Even though Abigail is 3 months today, we are still haven't seemed to find a routine for our family and because of that my computer time is limited to a few minutes here and there.  I think we're getting there.

Abigail Grace

 

Abigail Grace was born on August 20th and weighed about 6 1/2 pounds.  As you can see, we are all in love with her.  But who wouldn't be?  Daniel especially seems to adore his baby sister.  She was so tiny!  At her 2 month visit she was double that!

 

She is now almost 3 months and lights up our days.  She seems like our smiliest and giggliest...but it could just be my memory (or lack of).  

(Almost 3 months)

So many exciting things have been happening and I am looking forward to getting you caught up...just a little at a time.  We already have Abigail's Ukrainian papers, now we will be working on her birth abroad,passport, and SS.  We leave on the train for Kiev tomorrow morning at 6:45 AM.

GIRL or BOY?

Jailbreak!

We noticed recently that some were struggling with right attitudes around here lately.  So what can you do to help change the atmosphere in the home?  Have a girls' day out!

The girls have been doing their chores very well, Anna was doing her school...with Bible lessons, church, etc., there hasn't been much time for down time.  Lina started teasing Eric that he had me locked in a prison - a very pretty, prison, though. ;)  Eric and I had been talking about the need for the girls and I to have some fun time together, so Tuesday morning before the kids got up, I presented my request to him.  He said yes!  After breakfast, I let Anna off of dishes duty and she immediately started school.  At 12 pm we jumped in our taxi and made our jailbreak.  Our destination?  The mall!  We had the entire day planned.

We started with lunch.  What did we HAVE to eat?  McDonalds. ;)  We haven't been doing so good on the diet lately.

Then we did something that Anna has been begging to do, which would be impossible with the boys...Ice skating!

I would skate with one girl a little, help her to the wall, then go back for the other.  Two young young ladies came over and offered to help.  The girls loved making new friends!  They were very curious and I was able to talk to them a little about why we are here then give them a tract before we left. 

This was the girls' first time ice skating and it has been almost 13 years for me (the last time was my first outing with Eric with his church).  I was dying to skate around.  Maybe I can get Eric to go out with me? ;)

Next, we stopped at a little station that paints nails and had our nails done - a first for us all.  The girls just had their nails trimmed and painted, I had mine scrubbed too.  I don't know how I managed to live this long without once having a manicure!  And it was like $12 for ALL of us!

While I was helping Lydia up to her seat on the other side, Anna picked a sparkly polish for one hand and a purple for the other.

Lydia picked a soft pink polish, like her dress.  Don't they look like they are just loving this time?

We used the remaining of our time just walking around, picking up coffee for papa and potty breaks.  We barely made it through the door before Daniel latched onto my leg.  I guess he missed me.  The girls are already planning the next break. ;)

A White Christmas

The common question asked lately in our house is, "Is it Christmas yet?"  When I reply, "No," Anna, matter-of-factly states, "Because we don't have snow yet."  Well, that changed Wednesday night.  We woke up Thursday morning to about 4-6 inches of snow.  My meeting at the school was rescheduled to next Thursday since the roads aren't plowed and no one wanted to take the chance trying to get into the village.  The kids were thrilled because that meant they got to go play in the snow.

Sammy got to was excited to try on the snowsuit Mimi gave him, and was even happier when he found out that it had pockets!

He walked around like he was the coolest guy ever.  Hehe.  Eric and I were dying laughing.

Tuesday night, we finally decided to get a Christmas tree.  And it is fake...I know, I said I'd NEVER do a fake tree.  I just love the smell of the real thing, but they don't start selling them until a couple days before Christmas.  The kids loved decorating it!

Sammy put about 3 bulbs on the same branch. ;)

The finished tree...almost.  We were working on popcorn garlands, but most of our popcorn disappeared.

Boy or Girl?

Sorry to leave you hanging for so long.  I have been so exhausted that thinking...much less typing...has seemed impossible.  By 11-11:30 AM, my eyes and head get heavy and I start nodding like Daniel.  By 12-12:30 PM, whether kids are in their beds for quiet time or not, I'm out...which is very dangerous to a clean house.  In the evening, I crash almost as soon as they are in their beds (unless it's Sunday, then I crash before they do).  That's where my computer time has been going.  Tonight, though, my love is at the church waiting for the workers to finish re-installing the heating system.  The thought of climbing into a cold bed without being able to snuggle up next to my love is keeping me at the computer...even if most of my time has been spent spacing out.

I am a little nervous about announcing so early (I am 8 weeks pregnant now) and we had planned on waiting until 13 weeks.  Because I was feeling so awful, we thought we would have to announce it here soon but we wanted family to know first...then it would get out, SO might as well announce it. :)

As we wait for our little one, we can't help but wonder...

Boy?

Who seems to manage to leave a mess behind every where they go...

and is born with a love for roughing up and tackling...

and cars.

Or girl?

With her love for dolls and anything frilly...

Who cannot help twirling around the room as soon as music starts to play with their princess dresses on.

Such tenderness they show their babies, they seem born little mommies!

And what a difference their interactions are to the boys' rough housing!

They all make for a lively little house!

So, whether boy or girl, we will be thrilled....BUT the vote is 4 for girl and 1 for boy.  Can you guess who insists on a boy?  Yes, THE BOY (Sammy, for those who didn't know the name he went by on furlough, hehe).  What about Daniel's vote?  Well, his doesn't count as most likely he would vote neither and choose rather to stay the baby a little while longer. ;)

Church Advertising

Some churches play loud music, some hire clowns, some rent bouncy-thingys...our church?  They just let missionaries stay there.

And who wouldn't want to visit a church with a face like that? :)

Don't you feel bad for Eric? hehe

Don't feel too bad...he bought the water guns.

You can just tell by their faces they are enjoying this!!

She takes after her Mama! :)  That's my girl!  Get him!

I tried getting a picture of them all together, but it was pretty hard to get them to sit still.

Except for Sammy...he cracks me up!

And what was Daniel doing while his brother and sisters were soaking papa?

Playing with his new toy from the Dupree family. :)  We love you guys and LOVE the sandals and toys! 

I just added it up today, and we have been to 10 churches this month {2 missions' conferences and 2 revivals}!  I know we have the SWEETEST churches!  Our van is always overflowing with all of the gifts they are showering upon us!  We end up leaving wishing we had more time to visit and help them.  Each time we go into a church, we see so many needs.  Our hearts are burdened for the churches of America, we wish we could help, but we are not called to stay.  Furlough has been refreshing and it has been so nice to meet many of you and hear that you are praying for us.  I have been surprised by how many of you have prayed for us to be able to have children!! ....you can stop now. ;)  Even with all of this, I am ready to go home.  I pray that this time in the states will only make me more useful for the service of Jesus Christ in Ukraine.

Мы любим вас Валентина, наша дорогая русская мама!!!!!