Peace

My prayer for our family this past month has been that God would give us peace.  He has definitely answered that prayer although the house doesn’t always “sound” peaceful because of the laughter and craziness of the kids’ play. I also hoped that filling in the age gap between Adam and Andrew would help, and it has.  They all four interact much more than the older two would do with just Adam. Anastasiya is happy at home and school, and pairs up with her sister or with Andrew or with Adam at any given time if they aren’t all together.  The girls like being with each other, and Anastasiya looks up to her big sister. I think she’s envious of Allie’s retainer! That’s okay – everyone thinks braces are so glamorous until they actually get them!  She goes to the dentist next week, so I hope our pocketbooks aren’t in big trouble. She likes to read and will sometimes spend some quiet time in her room reading.  She has read through the books Richard bought her in Ukraine, but Luda let her borrow her stash and then helped us order some more on-line from a Russian website.  When she’s not reading, she definitely prefers company which is good, but sometimes a little clingy.  At school, I am working to keep her busy!  I’m having her work some on English learning but I’m also trying to have her do what the other kids are doing as much as possible. My brain is behaving like I was actually pregnant four times- I think I’ve lost brain cells with each adoption.  I can’t form much of a coherent thought or make any major decisions on a weekday.  By Friday evenings, I’m asleep on the couch at 9:00. Richard is back to traveling for work, so getting all four kids out the door to get Allie to high school by 7:00 am is a little tiring. But, we are making it, and God has been good to us! We hope to post a professional family picture on our next blog. We are splurging on some nice photos next weekend (maybe). Anastasiya got a black eye swimming at the rec center (she’s not sure how!) with a new friend from school. I’m hoping that the touch ups will work well enough.  I’d rather re-schedule than try to make the other eye look like it’s wearing the same “make-up.”  I don’t want it to look like my 11 year old is that kind of girl!

We appreciate your continued prayers as we figure out our new lives!  A prayer for peace is what we have in mind!