Friday, February 10, 2012

Best Day of 2012

Today was a typical Friday for us. Going to CC, which we do every Friday then home. Usually we don't come straight home, but today my girls were home with yucky noses so Nick and I hurried back. I made lunch, cleaned the kitchen ect. Then it was off to check the Facebook. That's when it happened I had a friend request from my 4th child. I know alot of you are wondering 4th child, why would she be getting a friend request from one of her kids???  So here is the back story to that.

Almost 7 years ago at my homeschool group, a lady came in to give a presentation on the Children of Chernobyl . They were asking that families prayerfully consider hosting a child for the summer. I knew that this was something I just had to do. So I came home and told everyone we were getting a little girl, and it was not open for discussion that we just had to. If you don't know about Chernobyl you should read about it. Anyhoo we had a ton of paper work to do, background checks, home inspections and the list just goes on and on. At the end of all of this you get to pick the age and gender of your child. So I choose to get a 7 year old little girl. Now all there was left to do was wait for her arrival.


Picking her up the first time.
When the time came to pick her up at the airport I hurried off thinking "this will be a piece of cake". It never dawned on me that this child would not speak any English, and that she had never been away from her family. I will never forget the first time I layed eyes on that precious little girl. For me it was like finding a missing piece of my heart. I instantly fell in love with her, the same way I had with my own children the first time I saw them.

At 7 she was so small in comparison to American children her age. You could tell that she came from a place of poverty. The only thing she brought with her was an old bag and a pair of underwear. She was introduced to me by an older American lady that spoke Russian. Just like that Anna pronounced Anja was handed off to me for the next 6 weeks. I was given a book of Russian terms and told was told  all Belarusian children love to eat hot dogs, have a great summer and we will keep in touch with you. As I walked her out to the car it hit me that this child must be scared to death. I could not imagine sending my child all the way to Belarus for 6 weeks, to a family that I did not know. I also had no idea that this summer would be the beginning of one of the hardest things I would ever do in my life, but at the same time the greatest thing to ever happen to me.




We spent the next 6 weeks filling every moment with as much fun a possible. There were good times and there were tough times. It took Anja a little while to get used to life in America, but all in all she did great. This child was amazing. She would cheerfully do any task you asked of her. Slowly but surely she began to try all types of food and fell in love with fresh fruits and veggies. I could not keep enough of them in the house. I had to make at least 2 trips a week to Costco to keep up with her fruit addiction. It was all so worth it. She was a dare devil at heart and lived to go to Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens. She would cry when she was not tall enough to ride the big roller coasters. Swimming was her other favorite thing to do. Sadly though the 6 weeks ended all to quickly. Standing at the airport looking into the face of my sweet girl, as she tells me that she will miss me and is not ready to go home, just broke my heart. The next few weeks passed slowly and I longed to see her again. I knew though that summer would be here soon enough and she would be back with us again.

The Lord blessed us with 5 more wonderful summers with Anja. Even though the program ended we still found away to get her here to be with us. My wonderful parents and grandmother help offset the costs of getting her home to us. Me made more memories than I could count,but I always knew in the back of my mind that it would not last forever.

The older a child gets from her area of the world the harder it is to get visa's and other travel documents. The United States and Belarus also had a falling out during this time period which made things even harder. In the summer of 2010 the lady who helped me with the paper work over in Belarus told me she would not assist me anymore, because that it was just to hard for her. I knew then that it would be our last summer with her Anja.

I sat for many nights that last summer wondering how I could let go of a child I held so dear to my heart. How I could let go of the dreams I had for her. Even though I knew they were silly I still had them. I always dreamed that one day when she was older she would come to live in America. That Sam my oldest daughter and Anja would go off to school together, and that she would be here always. She is so smart and I know she could make something of herself if she just had help. I have to admit  I still dream these dreams.

In August of 2010 I kissed her goodbye one last time. I reminded her how much I loved her, how important she was to our family and that she would always be my daughter. To please remember to brush her teeth, stay away from boys, study hard and do well in school, and that she would always have a home in America. That was the last time I spoke to her and the hardest day of my life.

Anja Today
Which brings us to today one of the best days of my life. Anja was given a computer this Christmas by her real mother. She finally got Internet today. The first thing she did was find me on Facebook. It just so happens I was home on Facebook when this happened. Then to make things even better she also had Skype so needless to say I downloaded Skype and at 3:00 today I got to see my sweet girl. I would not have traded spending that time with her on Skype for a million dollars. I am so happy I got to see her. Oh how she has grown. Its crazy how much a young girl can change in a year and half.

I wish there was a way I could thank the makers of Facebook and Skype for bringing me so much joy. I can now talk to her all the time and see her too. Oh happy day!!!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Keeping Miss Mylee Busy

So a few days ago I came across some bingo daubers at the dollar store and remembered there are some type of alphabet sheets floating around on the Internet to use with them, so I got some. They stayed in the bag for a few days than I decide to get off my butt and get them out.

I did some searching on the computer and came up with some great sites to get free printables, just scroll down and she has tons of links to other pages.

So now you know where to get the daubers and the printables, now your asking yourself why would I go through the trouble of getting all of this. It will keep your child occupied for quite awhile. On top of that they are not very messy, they don't take long to set up or put away, and your kiddo can sit beside you and do them.

Mylee has been working on letters, shapes and different animal pictures. She wants to do page after page. I have to stop her or she would do everyone I had. Today alone she did 13 pages :)

My husband inquired last night if I was "training her to play BINGO" or was this some new type of art. Of course I replied we are in heavy BINGO training, have to win the big jackpot on Saturday. LOL

Here are some of her creations and the little dotter herself.




So I think I have tried starting a blog oh about 20 times. Anyways, I really want to get this up and going. I would like to eventually share some of my recipes, homeschooling things and other general things.

I have been inspired by all the fantastic blogs I have came across since joining Pinterest. So hopefully someone will find something worth in this blog and can share in my daily crazy life.