Different Parts

It always amazes me to hear how God puts things together. I love to hear the stories. I believe God's timing is perfect. He uses different things to keep us in His perfect timing.

John is from India and a pastor at a Christian church in India. He was my nephew's camp counselor a few years ago. My sister in law, Tena, was camp nurse. John came to stay with their family for awhile after camp. My brother and Tena work. We went with John to the zoo. We enjoyed spending time with him. We stayed in touch by email. John and I talked about the work God was doing through us with orphans. Later we talked and John said he felt led to have orphans living in their home. Wow! We had a heart for children in common. John is visiting the U.S. Last night he cooked us an Indian dinner. He told us he had 7 orphans living with them now there are over 20. We enjoyed seeing pictures of his family, church and the children. Then, as we were leaving, he told us that he had used our names in church talking about our working with orphans. Wow! God laying on our hearts to work with orphans had an effect in India. All of those that contributed to that first trip to Ukraine in 07, are joint heirs to a part in this. It is amazing the way God timed our meeting.
"A merry heart doeth good like medicine." Proverbs 17:22
In a time where we had not been seeing much fruit or understanding God's plan, what a awesome blessing that our Heavenly Father saw fit to show us that our work for Him is making a difference. We serve God because we love Him. We love others because He first loved us.
These 2 precious girls, well, they are loving on me lately. These are hugs of wanting comfort, missing us already and knowing we truly care about them. The seeds that were planted this summer....no telling what God will do with them. I hope I hear some of some fruit. But I trust my Heavenly Father knows best and His plan is best.
Yulyia is a dear friend to our family. I met her last summer. Her father in law stopped at a church while they were working. Then he suggested to his son and family they attend the church. We needed a translator last summer. Ricky works with a guy that goes to the church and we have friends there. They told us about her. We called and she came to help. I asked her if I came to her church would she translate for the children. She graciously said yes. She teaches them Sunday School and Wed. night in Ukrainian. God's word in Ukrainian in a small country church in Alabama. Is that not amazing.
The past few days Haley is getting closer to me again. She put up a guard when the girls arrived. Anna was so jealous tonight when I was talking to another little girl her size. She wanted all the attention. So I jump roped with her. (That was a funny sight.) She loved it. Troy and Andrew had the "joy" of serving family by sitting with grandad and cutting grass. They needed to give to others. They went to sleep quickly tonight. They cut the neighbors yard too and worked for 4 hours in the heat.
I was blessed God used me to encourage another homeschool mom tonight. After having a lonely summer I could immediately recognize the symptoms of wanting to talk to an adult. I was also blessed to see a few of my CBS buddies tonight and spend time with them.
"I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase." I Cor 3:6 I don't care which part God uses me for in His work. I just want to be used by God to make a difference in the lives of others.

Our island

My island has 9 children living here with me. I teach them to cook, clean and to be kind. My island has poisionous snakes around it. They remind me of the dangers the islanders face off the island. The island can be lonely with 11 of us here most of the time. Much of my time is spent encouraging the islanders to do what is right.

These islanders have come from 4 very different places with very different baggage. Yes, baggage not luggage. Our islanders came with little if anything. The baggage they carry is from their past experiences that weighs on them in their present life. Luggage is a different story. We will be seeking luggage for two of the islanders will be leaving soon. They will return to their sandy place with the big cold buildings and no parents. We hope they take something they have learned with them. We pray God watches over them.

We occasionally venture off the island. Usually it us just the 10 of us that visit other places. Our unusual language gets us noticed off the island. But rarely do others try to communicate with the islanders. We are at times, on an island in public. Nothing is the world matters but the islanders. There is little time to communicate with the outside world. Usually communications received are wanting us to buy something we don't need.
Sometimes we manage to visit refreshing pools. I enjoy these trips as much as the islanders. A time of refreshing is needed after doing the work on the island. Sometimes the trips are costly and we choose to stay on our island instead of paying the price. Other times there are pools opened to us at no charge and include communication and outlets.

I wonder how many islands there are around. How many others have their own island.

I ventured to another island the other day. It was a hard place to go. I knew God wanted me to go. Once I arrived it was God lead. He had some things he needed this neighboring island to hear. After counseling and praying for the islanders I returned to my island.

Another day God brought someone to te edge of the island. They needed a time of refreshing and comfort. It was good to share with the neighboring islander.

One of the islanders leaves every morning to provide for the islanders. He enjoys staying up late to spend time with the islanders. He misses so much being gone to provide for us.

Our island serves many purposes, some are unknown.

Many places do not open doors for island groups of 10 or 11. They feel the tribe is too much trouble. I feel sorry for their loss. Many feel the islanders would be too much to feed. We feed them daily. Yes that's 11 a meal, 3 meals a day, 7 days a week (231 a week) and 4 or so weeks a month (over 924 meals a month). These new islanders are hard to fill. They eat about 2 or so snacks a day in addition to the meals. But the God of the island supplies our needs and stretches His dollars.

Refreshing comes from time spent learning the ways of God, seeking His will and learning his Word. Times without the Word are dry and leave islanders parched and dry and well grumpy. The Word and prayer are needed to make the islanders obedient and joyful.

My island, well it's not perfect. But it is where God has us for now.

Talking to daddy

Daddy...I know you know what I need before I ask you. Thank you. Thank you for your Holy Bible that shows me how to pray. Daddy I know you are in Heaven and the angels sing your praises because you are the best daddy ever, wonderful and loving. Daddy, I want your will in my life (and in the life of my husband and children) here like your will is done in Heaven. Daddy, thank you soooo much for today providing food for us. (It was so much more than we deserved...even if lunch was left overs....it was a blessing not to have to cook!) Daddy forgive my family when we don't do as we should. Thank you for a greatful heart to forgive others quickly and not hold grudges. Daddy, I'm weak (we are) we have had a hard journey here lately, please keep temptations away from us and the devil too. Daddy, I forgive anyone who sinned against me. I want your forgiveness....thank you. Matthew 6:8-14
And daddy, I love you.

God's strength

God led me to a scripture this morning that I have been thinking about. It was in my devotion this morning. I picked it up thinking "What does God have for me today?"
I like the KJ version better: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord." Isaiah 55:8
My way would be that every orphan brought here would have a family immediatly fall in love with them and seek after them. That these children would all have a forever home. But my ways are not God's ways. I know my Heavenly Father has a plan. I just do not know what His plan is. I am trying to be obedient in what He called us to do this summer. Parenting 9 kids is a challenge. I have little time to spend one on one with them. I don't feel God called us to adopt the 2 we are hosting. I never felt Him calling us to do this. There are some children my heart longs for in Ukraine. God puts them on my heart to pray for them. I know not their future but I know who holds the future. I know not to question God's plans. I do wonder why sometimes. When in the trenches I remind myself Jesus asked if it was possible to not have to go through the suffering for God to let is pass. Jesus suffered. So I accept that life as a Christian is hard work! If I'm not working hard then what am I doing for my Savior? Jesus did so much for me. Hosting 2 this year adopting 3....some think we are crazy. I think we are being obedient.
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strenght; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall wank, and not faint." Isaiah 4o:31 When I am weary....God gives me His word to strengthen me. When I admit my weakness He gives me His strength.
"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong." 2 Corinthians 12:10
I pulled out my King James version of the Bible. It was like seeing an old friend. I used it for around 15 years. My mom bought it for me as a gift as I left for a summer mission trip. There are many versions of the Bible out there. At Community Bible Study we use the New International Version. Now at church they use the New American Standard. Just read God's Word.

We had a great day Sunday. After church and lunch there we drove to Chatt, TN to go to the aquarium. I paired up 1 English with 1 Ukraine and had them keep up with eachother. I only had one grumble about this. So out of 9 that's good. The were able to pet sting rays and fish. They all had a really good time.
I think Ricky had a harder time than they did with the rule I made. They drank huge cups of coffee at church. So I said no Coke today. He wanted to buy them one at dinner. When it was just the 4 kids we always ordered water. Why do these kids need Coke? They do not. They said they needed a toliet stop. We stopped. They all stood at the cash register at McDonalds. I guess they forgot we stopped for the toliet! I gave into Ricky and let him buy ice cream....but no Coke. It was already 10p.m. Please not so much sugar dear.
Yesterday's challenge was getting them to sweep. I had worked with Anna an hour or two on her room cleaning. Nobody obeyed and swept. Again they wanted ice cream. I said no sweep, no ice cream. It was time to go to the Pump it Up party. I informed them if they did not sweep they would not go to the party. They finally did it. It was Troy's day to wash dishes and he had done it so he did not have to help.

Much needed laughter

We had a good day at a pool. I decided I was getting too depressed and needed some down time. We splashed and played for hours. It was cloudy and we did not use sunscreen so those of us with fair skin are .... red.

With 9 kids in the house the summer clean out is not getting done. In fact the things I moved from Amy's room to our room is still in a pile. Usually I spend a day or two getting the school room ready for next year. We have not had time to do it yet. I wanted to make bookshelves before school started. I pray that still happens. School is coming too soon.

The hosted girls are calling me mom all the time now. Their hugs are sweet and safe. By safe I mean before they hugged me but it was guarded. Now they trust us and the hugs are from the heart.

Haley, Heather, Amy and Anna all participated in the VBS classes. Rachel, Troy and Andrew helped where needed. It was a joy to see the 4 girls singing tonight. At the end they told the kids to sit with their parents so all 4 girls sat on me! Twice. Ira and Rita enjoyed the program. They both learned several verses this week! I was so proud of them.

We are praying about the schedule.

Rachel and Andrew were very disappointed the youth trip to Six Flags was canceled. We hope to arrange to take them. Disappointments are a part of life. Mom fixing them is a part of life too.

I needed the laughter today. The pool was almost empty. That was great. I would have canceled, because of cloudy skies, if Heather had not had a friend going with us. I am glad we all went.

I am thrilled to mention the 3 families we know in Ukraine adopting had their court date today and all went well. They begin their 10 day wait before doing more paperwork.

Blessings

Yeah, if I'm gonna blog...it's gonna be in the middle of the night. Sometimes I wonder how much time I should put into this.
But tonight was good.....
The day started with me wanting to clean. Just me. The kids did not want to stay home. I suggested the dollar movies. Haley wanted no part in going to the movie I suggested. I knew it was a girl movie and suggested Troy might want to be with mom. Haley said me too. She immediately talked the 2 girls we are hosting into not going. Then she talked Anna into not going. Ok, so rethinking. I'll take the 3 other daughters and not let them down.
My first priority was to take food and visit with friends, Dustin and Allison. Their baby died at 37 weeks. Our Rachel was born at 36 weeks. Pls pray for them. Burial tomorrow.
We ate lunch, gathered the food and get in the car, off to Nanny's house. We all go inside. We chat a little. The 2 hosted girls work up the courage to stand up for what they want. They want to go to the movie too. I'm proud of them. I know older orphans bully younger ones to get what they want. I think this is the first time they trusted me to do what they wanted and not follow her lead. So I leave my 3 newly adopted children with mom, their choice and take the other 5 girls to my friend's house. We have a good visit. The 5 are well behaved and enjoyed playing with their son. (A verse I shared with her is Phil 4:13.....a VBS verse this week....did not know it until later.)
We leave their house and I realize there is no time for the movies. VBS is at 6:00p.m. So I take them out for ice cream. We go in one of the Christian book stores and it's time to get to church.
Last night I sent Ricky with our 5 girls to church. Ira is still recovering from a virus and I did not want her going. Rita, a true friend, stayed with her.
Tonight we tried to get Ira, Rita and Troy to go to class. Our 5 girls went again tonight. The 3 did not want to. (It's hard to type in English. I hear their Ukrainian and want to type it in Ukrainian. I'd mispell it if I tried.) I took them to the craft room. The 2 hosted girls did a craft. Then I took them to McD's for a treat. We probably should not have drank Coke and coffee. But it did give us the opportunity to spend some quality talking time together. I loved it. No interuptions except to get them a napkin or sugar. I learned more about them.
I also learned more about a boy named Vlad that lives in their orphanage. He is working hard to learn English in hopes he will get to come to America. I had the pleasure of taking him to McD in Ukr. He has no mom or dad and so wants to come here. My heart goes and to him. My prayers go to God on his behalf. I wish we could bring him this summer. At 14 they know their time is getting close to leaving the orphanage. Less than 2 years and he will be out!
Ok, back to the girls. They are instructed not to tell where we went. Why? No fussing from my kids is my goal.
It's 10 and I tell everyone to go to bed. But the 3 of us have had coffee and Coke and we are not tired. Amy comes in the room and has earned a neclace from VBS for saying her verse. She offers to help the girls earn one. The pastor's wife said if they did they could get a prize too. They like the neclace. They begin to learn it in English. I point out to them that if they learn it in Russian they can get the prize for that. This brings excitement and confusion. So I get my Russian Bible. I marked only a few books in English and a few verses. God knew in advance I needed those books for VBS so I turn to the first book and have penciled in Phillipians and turn to 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Ok, I had tried my best to explain it in my mixed Ukrainian and English. But now I have the Word of God open and am able to let them read it to me and understand it in their language!!! God's hand was truly in this. What joy to see some fruit. The desire for them to learn Bible verses. So 2 hours later and it's midnight and again I'm feeding them yogurt and telling them to go to bed. 2 hours of finding verses and trying to discuss them. (I needed this mountain high. There are many valleys in what we are doing.)
Andrew is with a friend. He needs the time away from the house.
There are 9 kids living here. 5 speak very little English. Hearing Ukainian most the day can give us a headache. Andrew and Troy share a room. So when Andrew goes to bed, well the Ukrainian follows him. No rest for the weary. He used to have quiet before sleeping, not anymore.
Our new 3 have been home about 9 weeks....wow. The 2 hosted have been in our home 3 weeks....wow. They will be with us 7 more weeks. I'm already praying about school starting...soon.
I have had to seperate Haley from the girls, at times, so that they will speak English. With the 3 together they don't speak Eng. If they are seperated they all try to speak Eng. We are going to miss these girls when they leave.
I know God called us to host them this summer. I had hopes for them. I know God has plans for them. I believe the time spent here will help them no matter where they live. God told us to host them. We are obeying. I don't pretend to know His plans for any of us. Who ever thought I would be sitting in a small town at a McD's with 2 girls from Ukraine trying to speak their language? I never saw this in my future. Growing up here there were no Spanish speaking people in our school. Tonight some were speaking Spanish to train the employees. So 3 languages were going on in this small town resaurant. I'm sure Ricky never thought he would be providing food, clothing and shelter for 9 kids; 5 from Ukraine. I do not have to know God's plan. We are just to do what He tells us to do. It's not always easy. I keep telling myself "obedience brings blessing". I want to be blessed. I want to obey God. I want my children to be blessed and obey God. I want us all to seek God with our whole heart. I don't mind people thinking we are crazy for going across the world to get 3 more kids. I know my new kids future was not full of hope. I know had badly Troy wanted to come here. I know others want to come here too. My heart aches for them. I rejoice for our 3. They now have hope and opportunities. God's blessings come in the form of Troy's hugs. He is happy to be in a family. Other blessings are the hugs from the hosted girls. They now call me mom. It is their affectionate way of saying they feel at home here. No more mama Hollie. Just mom even though they know their return date to Ukraine.
I'm grateful Ricky has accepted the responsibilty to provide for 9 kids. I don't want to offend. But I want to laugh...we are a family of 11. (For 10 weeks there are 11 of us.) We have been to one meal where we did not take food or buy food. I birthed 4 children. Each time we had a neighbor that brought a meal. Usually church friends and neighbors would bring meals. We flew to another country, paid a facilitator $20,000, the adoption agency costs around $4,000, in Ukraine (food, a place to sleep, fees, train, buses and taxis) around $8,000 then our government wants another $1,200 then we buy 3 tickets to get them here about another $3,000 and then the government wants us to readopt them costing over $1,000. We buy a car to seat all of us. I stress over money and Ricky says it's ok. I'm glad he handles the money. Again I do want to say thank you to all that donated towards our adoption. And thank you to the Christian group that provided the hosting fee for the girls this summer. But yes it is expensive to feed 9 kids. We go through about a bag of apples a day, 40 or more bannans a week, 5 gallons of milk and juice a week and etc. That's why I still have dial up. It saves $50 a month. We have basic free tv. We don't take the family out to the movie theatre at $8 or more a person. The menu always comes from what is on sale this week and when it is on sale we stock up! The girls gave up dance class. I use every type of cupon God provides. WE TRUST IN GOD FOR HIS PROVISION AND ARE GREATFUL FOR WHAT HE DOES FOR US. We are amazed at what God does in us to grow us and through us when we are willing.
Most days... I don't think about the diamond earings, boat, vacation, and second honeymoon we would have had if we had not bought 3 children. (But I'm human and do have to cast out the sin of wanting.) 60% of orphan girls end us as prostitutes. So odds are some of you had a part in buying our girls out of prostitution. One day I found myself feeling sorry for all the people that had the boats, lake houses, dream vacations and etc but did not have children living in their homes that used to be orphans. I saw a statistic that if 10% of Christians would adopt there would be no foster families in the U.S. and no orphans in Europe. 10% that is amazing. No orphans....IF.....10% were willing. Is God challenging you? What is God calling you to do?
WE LOVE HIM BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US. I JOHN 4:8
I'm glad God loves me, wretched as I may be, my God He loves me, my future He does see, in you God alone I trust my future to thee, thank you for loving me.

A Busy Month

Ira and Rita have been living with us for a week now. It has brought about some problems. Haley not speaking English has been the biggest problem. So they are being seperated some. I know she loved being able to speak to them in their language. They were given over 3 days of grace. Then asked to speak some English. Now they all understand the week has been for them to speak their language but not going places. After another discussion English is improving.
We took Rita to get some much needed clothes. Of coarse shopping with 10 kids ....is expensive. Thank you to the kids that asked for nothing....oh...just Andrew.
Troy is really enjoying time with Ricky.
Reality is the 4 bio kids are getting left out of Ricky's time. They are gettinging closer to me.
I had hoped to send Andrew and Rachel to camp....looking at the money, I've told them that it will not be this summer. Rachel did get to go to a horse show in NC with friends. I was thrilled she had the opportunity.
Before Ira and Rita arrived we went to the beach ... 29 of my family members. We had a good time. In the ocean a wave would sneak up and hit us sometimes. If we knew it was coming we would have been prepared. We did not know the girls would be joining us early. If we had known we would have been prepared. God wants us to always be prepared. Not so easy to do. Sometimes we do not know what we are preparing for we are just to stay in the Word of God and be ready for whatever comes our way.
We are working out a schedule for summer. Bejoyfulinhope.blogspot.com

Update

The two girls we are hosting, from Ukraine, for the summer are here in Alabama. They arrived late tonight. A group of 10 orphans arrived at Atl airport tonight. The others are all being hosted in Texas. We stayed with them until they were on their next flight.
The tired girls had gifts, showers and off to bed.

In our home: We are getting to our new normal. We are still doing school. We will do an hour or two most of the summer. Reality is they need to learn English.
They are staying up late and sleeping late. I enjoy my mornings by getting ready for school, gardening or cleaning house. I truly enjoy the quiet.
Anna is a good helper. She volunteers for chores. If someone is doing a chore she volunteers to help. (No the teens are not that helpful. Ok the opposite, they don't like chores.)
We have a friend translating church. She also teaches Sunday School in Russian. The children really enjoy having class in on of their native languages.
Troy loves sports. We try to keep him busy. We joined a pool and go as often as possible. We have several friends with pools. I decided to try to make Tuesdays our day to visit our friends and their pools. The kids enjoyed being at the Anderton's this week. I think I enjoyed it more having an adult friend to talk with. (Thanks Jane!!)
Haley and Anna often play in their room. They are enjoying playing together. It is fun to see them so happy to spend time together.
Behaviors we are working on are sharing, no name calling (even if it is chicken), respecting property and hitting eachother.
We bought a 9 passenger Yukon. I am thrilled to have something that will hold all of us. Driving 2 cars was one too many. On the other hand, we are in more debt than we have ever been in before, which I'm not thrilled about. My van was paid off but needed repair and did not have enough seats for all of us.
Adding the 2 orphans, we are hosting, tomorrow (today) will discuss that we are their parents for keeps and simply trying to obey God in whatever he calls us to do.

No school, no eat.

I sit here in the school room trying to type for the first time since we returned home. I've tried to find time for the computer. We will see how this works today.
We had some boy trouble on Monday. So I laid down the law. "No school, no eat." The reply "Ok". No going outside. Grumbling and upstairs he went. A few minutes later he climbed off the back balcony and went bike riding for over and hour. He was afraid to come near the house. Up and down the driveway he went. I called Ricky and said we need a plan. Ricky came home and did not see him. He wanted to look for him. I said no, just cook dinner, on the grill. Troy showed up. The smell invited him home. He told Ricky I said "No school, no eat." He went straight upstairs without talking to me. He stayed up there the rest of the night. Yes, he got hungry. No he was not willing to do any school or ask for food.
The next day. No breakfast = no school? He thought if he did not eat he did not do school work. I called, he did not come. The other kids told me what he said. Noon he was still sleeping in bed. Ricky came home from lunch and and was assigned the job to get him in the school room. He did stay. Troy did not run. He sat and did his school all afternoon. Yeah!!! After about an hour of school I fed him lunch. He worked more. At dinner time we had him unload the dishwasher before eating, a first for him.
Ricky and I both received hugs throughout the night. He had been allowed to do no school at the orphanage. By lunch time I had decided he was testing us to see if we cared if he did it or not. We did let him sleep till noon. He did his school. We both won.
This morning he came down when called. If I am in the room with them they are doing their school. Ok, that is the same with the others.

WE WILL BE HOSTING THIS SUMMER. TWO GIRLS WILL BE COMING FROM SUMI. THEY ARRIVE AROUND JUNE 6. WE ARE VERY EXCITED TO HAVE THEM COME. PLEASE PRAY FOR GOD'S WILL IN THIS HOSTING.

Homeschool mom

Being a mom that schools 7 children at home is a tough job. We started at the beginning with the new 3. I felt God had told me to do this from the beginning. Starting 7, 14, and 15 in first grade. I know that God had me homeschool our other 4, in part for prep for these 3. I love sitting next to them in the school room and watching them do their work. What peace! What joy! Knowing that in my messy, crowded, school room I am right where God wants me to be!
After only a week of doing school with them my first impressions were confirmed, they lack much knowledge. One of my children was absent from school once every three days. Yes, that is right. Living at the orphanage they were absent from school that much. I'm thinking somebody should have pulled them out of bed and put them in the chair for school. I'm thinking that the tv and game systems should be locked up after 10. Staying up till midnight playing games is the reason they were too tired for school. (Yes, I lock ours up.) I'm thinking what about the poor kid I did not get to bring home. He is sleeping in class or in his room and not getting an education. My mind is blown at the labels they have for classes and the fact that they were not taught 2nd grade math. They missed division class altogether.
I'm glad they are here and have a future. I'm glad that as hard as it was, as expensive as it was and is, as much as we owe that we chose to obey God's call to rescue these children. I'm glad their ours.
My boys were doing art. My sweet, new son brought me a picture "Mama Hollie - I love you - My Moma" I love it. "My mama." Sweet music in my ears. That's one of those surprises you cherish. My boy is back to his U.S.A. self. Here he comes up and hugs me. I never know when he will come. He surprises me. I love it. He is so happy here. I know he complains about school and other things....but he is so happy here. I cant' take him too serious when he complains...he tends to smile through it. Peace.
The oldest sometimes writes on her school work "mom I love you."
God's simple blessings. These kids could care less about things....but they are greatful for love.

Allergic to Milk?

God is so good. When in Ukraine one of my children informed me she was allergic to milk. The other 2 agreed. So she did not drink milk.
Sometimes I'm a little slow. It did not occur to me when I bought ice cream cones for the kids that she was eating "milk". The lie continued. (Ricky was not in Ukraine when she had ice cream. So my plan included him.) Since we have been home I discussed the problem with Ricky. I asked him to back me up. She again did not want milk. If she is allergic to milk she can't have ice cream. The first test was serving her tea for breakfast and the rest had milk. She complained. The next day we had cereal for breakfast. Oops I poured her milk....well another kid had to have that bowl and dry cereal for her. Again a few days later....dry cereal. Ricky was kind enough to take the dictionary and show her the word allergic when we ate our ice cream. "Yanizniyou"....."I don't know". The lie continues. The others are watching her pay the price.
I must say I did take too much pleasure in buying so many kinds of ice cream. I wanted the lie to have some affect. Now I am praying that when we use the interpreter she will admit the lie. I know she has drank milk while we are not watching. How long does she think it will last.
I'm glad God allows us to catch our kids in their lies. It gives them a chance to grow and learn. I want them to understand that lies are sin. God hates sin. Sin has punishment. We could have given in and ignored the milk lie and let her have the ice cream. I just feel this lesson will help prevent other lies.
I don't want this used against the kids. I just want others to know some of the creative ways we must parent these precious gifts from God.

Mother's Day

We are at home!!! We arrived late Thursday night. I have been sick. It took over 25 hours from the time I woke up to the time we arrived at home. I only slept 2 hour in that time. At least one of the 5 kids was awake and I was keeping a watch on them. The flight from JFK to ATL: I told the flight attendants they were not allowed coke or coffee. I explained that they had gotten plenty on the last flight. The attendents had a meeting and all agreed to keep them caffene free. I had requested we be together (at least in two's). The next to the last row was open and we all had seats together. There were 3 seats behind us. The ladies, on that row, said the bathroom smell was too bad and asked to move. They moved. I moved to their seats and slept a few hours.
The next flight some of the kids were asleep before we took off. The attendent had already checked to see if trays were up. Vlad put his back down and went to sleep. I decided it was her job to put it up and not mine and I let him sleep.
We were all tired. I thought they would sleep late. They were up at 7:30. I felt so bad that I stayed on the sofa most the day. Rachel and Heather cooked dinner. I was not better Saturday.
Sunday morning, finally feeling decent. Still stuffy and yucky but better.
Heather started cooking pancakes and Rachel helped. Heather had been so excited to find strawberries in the fridge. She wanted to cook pancakes yesterday but we did not have all the ingredients. I am so glad she enjoys cooking. What a blessing to have them make breakfast.
Rachel had informed me her phone was missing. Nobody took it, it just disappeared?
We went to Grace Chapel for church. Yulya called, while we were driving there. She had not planned to go to church there but came and translated for the kids. We were all glad to see her. I was glad to hear God's Word. It came to a point that I would read it out loud in Ukraine to hear the Word. Sometimes just reading it is not enough.
After church our friend translated some things for us to the children. One being please return the phone. After I listened to their reasoning on why none of them had it and various other possibilities....I let them know all that could have been possible if someone had not answered the phone this morning. Silence.
A few of my girls were craving the local Mexican restaurant. We headed there for lunch. They did not like the idea of eating hot dogs. We introduced our friendly, usual waiter to the kids.
My younger brother invited us over and cooked dinner for mom, my older brother and our families. The kids played on the street awhile. They rode bikes, scooters and skate boards. All had a good time.
After we arrived home...Rachel took her shower. She rapidly got out when she heard someone in her room. The phone was back. It was under the bed....but it was back.
Our cats run and hide. They are afraid of our "new" children. They have good reason to be afraid. One minute they will try to pet them and the next minute they are chasing them like wild dogs. This is not just my cats. This happens with birds, cats, dogs, any animal that dares to get close to them. The wildness in these children reminds me of wild animals, willing to chase anything. Hopefully love will tame them.
Reality check: internet has not been working. God's timing is perfect. If you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all. So when my attitude is adjusted I'll say more about our adoption. Till then be patient with me, I've been resting in my Heavenly Father's arms as He allowed us to come home in His timing.
I will say I had emails to send out to many prayer groups and friends. They asked for you to pray we would get to come home Thursday. I tried to send them out Tuesday. No email. By Thursday I was apologizing to God. If He wanted me to stay longer....His timing was perfect. I should have asked to pray for God's timing. In the sandy Ukraine (my desert), I was alone. It was just my prayers to God. Just God and me. Nobody in the US knew all that was going on. We were told we could not do it in a day. It was done in a day.
Tuesday afternoon we picked up the passports at the bus station. Wednesday moring: US Embassy, papers signed, medicals done, shots and xrays given, back to Embassy for fingerprints (both older kids - Troy Vlad's birthday), lunch and back to the Embassy to see if fingerprints were done at 2. After 3 we had the visas.
At the 2 meeting we met 2 families that had also adopted. I stared at one of the girls. I asked the mom where she adopted from....Zhy. I looked at the girl again, I had assumed she was American. I told the parents I thought we had met her. The mom looked at the daughter, the daughter looked at Rachel and called her by name. Wow. What perfect timing. The mom knew my name. She had met Tanya and Leeza and they wanted her to tell Mama Hollie hello. (In their mind if you live in the US you would see me...well they did see me!) We exchanged infor and I invited this Tanya to come visit us.
Then to call about tickets. Then to get student ID cards. Delta office to pay for tickets. And a birthday dinner for Troy Vlad roasting hot dogs at Masha's parents home.
The second couple we met at the Embassy was on the plane to the US with us. We spent hours talking and working with their newly adopted daughter. We used my girls to babysit some so that we could have adult conversation. God's timing.
Thanks to all the praying moms out there. Thanks to the moms that read their Bibles and lead their children closer to God. Thanks to the moms that have helped us through this journey.

He heals the brokenhearted

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Proverbs 1:2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; 3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair;
These are things God is working on in our lives. The girls are broken hearted this is so hard, they are so mean and this is taking so long. I can second most of that. I knew it would be hard. I knew my kids were strong. I also have come to realize I will have to provide them with more outs than expected. I'll be searching for summer camps for them. They need the break. They deserve it.
They also deserve the right to have their things. I have asked Ricky to put locks on their doors. They take good care of their things. They have learned if you break it it's gone. I don't quickly replace their things.
Vlad tends to like to wake Rachel with water. Since we moved to Irpene she is sleeping in the room with me and that does not happen. In AL my room is downstairs, their up. I think she deserves the locks.
Phil 2:14 is the first verse I'd like them to learn. "Do everything without complaining or arguing." It probably won't be the first. Maybe Phil 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Grumpy in Kiev

Well that is the reality. The kids were not happy. No yard to play in. Rachel, Heather and I were thrilled to walk out into Independance Square. It was a thrill for us. We were just a few minutes walking distance. We woke up one morning and dressed about 10. The two older children would not get up. Anna was up and dressed. So we left them and walked to the square. We visited some of the many shops there. We enjoyed walking around the city. Anna did not. We bought her candy to keep her happy.
We went to a place to drive cars indoors. First we went to the indoor bowling. They fussed. Then we looked at the movies. They fussed. To the cars. They had a great time, it was expensive. Then Anna climbed through a children's playground. We went into 2 0r 3 stores. They fussed. I decided we did not need to spend money on children that were rude and ungrateful. So we went back to the apartment. We did not play the video games because I was tired if the grumbling. Heather and Rachel were disappointed that they did not get to go to the movie or bowling. They clearly understoood how miserable the other 3 would have made it. They understood my reason for leaving.
There was a park across the street from us. We did not know it the first time we were in Kiev. We had a hard time finding groceries, more importantly water. We walked to the park and played there for awhile. The older 2 just wanted to watch tv. Nothing on tv is in English. They usually try to watch garbage on tv. They turn the channel back to garbage when I walk out of the room. I walk into the room alot!
They have broked the balls, and etc I have given them. Anna has broken her suitcase, two bottles of fingernail polish in her purse, backpack and etc. They said they did not want me to buy them anything. At this point I agree with them.
We had taken them to the street market to get a jersey for Vlad, a picture and blown glass for Haley (and etc). We tried to take Haley shopping to get something for the wedding or a new shirt. She did not want anything. Nothing was good enough. So no more shopping.

The wedding

Masha's family lives here in Irpene. The wedding of her sister, Tanya and Slovic was here in Irpene. We worked Thurday night and most of Friday to get ready for the wedding. The decorations were beautiful. Masha maybe got 2 hours sleep.
We arrived Sat and helped put the silverware on the tables. Then off to the wedding. It was supposed to start at 12. After 11 part of it began.
The retired President of the Babtist Assoc preformed the ceremony. There was a orchestra and a group of singers. We did not understand all of the ceremony. It is tradtion to give them a beautiful bread for their wedding. At 12 they went out and the wedding began? So I'm not sure what was before 12 but it seemed important to me. After the ceremony people brought them flowers. We enjoyed it. All the children sat and behaved!
Then we helped take the decorations to the reception. They served tons of food. We loved it. Even Vlad ate enough. People talked the entire time. A lady, MC talked most of the time and asked others questions. Two groups sang. We had a break and we all went outside. People greated the couple and gave them gifts. Then we went back inside to have sweets, sons of sweets. By end it was after 6. We helped clean up and walked back to the home....tired. We had a quiet evening.

Irpene

It has been awhile.
Yes, we have been here forever. How long in forever? Over 6 weeks. Maybe we will get to go home the end of this week. I'm not hearing any answers. I really wish we had never been told it would probably take less time.
It's a holiday. Yes, no work on Fri or today.
We left Poltava for Kiev. We stayed there 3 days. We had no place to go. We moved to Irpene with a family. We are in 2 rooms and sharing the kitchen. I am blessed to say we are with a Christian family. It was akward, at first. Four days later we have been able to go to a store and get food. We went to a tiny store before that. Cheese, bread, a bag of milk, not much to choose from. (no apples or bananas). For days we ate sandwiches....all day. We bought meat at the store. We had hot dogs for lunch, pork steaks for dinner and chicken for lunch today. We are out of meat.
We are an hour away from Kiev. No car. We tried for the 4th time to go to the zoo today. It is a walk, 2 buses and metro from here; not open today. Rachel's bored.
Today is the first day Vlad washed a dish. He also peeled 1 potato. I told him if he did not he did not eat. He is beginning to believe me.
Anna is having no sweets, coke or cookies today. She really pushed it last night at bed time. We have a fizzy apple drink. She tried to get some for lunch. Nope. It is sweet.
I like the parents here. One night I told the kids to go to bed. They did not. The parents turned off the tv and said I had told them to do to bed. They went!

S orphanage visit

Sumi is a long drive. Bumpy roads all the way. Masha and I sat up front to enjoy the drive.
Haley agreed to take her medicine last night and this morning.

We drove up to the orphanage and Ir was walking between buildings. I was amazed she was wearing the same jacket and jeans we saw her in last year. It was easy to spot the red jacket. As you get closer to the jacket you see how old and worn it is. She jumped up and down and called to me and ran to me. Then the others piled out of the van. Hugs for all. She said Ri, Ri so we went in to find her. We chatted for awhile. It was good to see them.

We asked to take them to McDonalds. Last year it was suggested we do this. This year we had to take the whole class. Only 3 would fit with us in the van. The driver had to make 2 or 3 trips. This was a fincial surprise to take them all. Milkshakes are not common in Ukr. I wondered how many had one for the first time?

This was Ir first time to the McDonalds in S. She has lived there awhile. Ri had been with older friends.

When the first group left, a few of us went across the street to get bananas for the kids and chocolate.

Often we meet one kid that sticks out to us. The same one stuck out to the three of us awake. I'd love to bring him on the hosting program and he would love to come. We have not worked out the finanaces for hosting. I do good to take a deep breath some days. The boy reminds me of my new son. Cute as can be. He told us alot about himself. Sad, he is too big for my suitcase.
Ok, I added and it disappeared. Trying again...
Pray for the orphans....their life stories....our heavenly dad knows all.
Reality: Ma, Ra and I are sad. It is hard to say good bye. I wish we had more time in S.

I don't know how long we will be in Ukr. We will try to leave this city Mon and go to Kiev. We have some paperwork to do to leave this city. Waiting on passports, etc. I scheduled tickets for May 7. Ire says passports will be in Kiev May 5. Troy may have his birthday here too...May 6.

Party night and passports

This morning we went out to eat breakfast. We went to the Botanic. My favorite place. It is a cafeteria and we can point at what we want. Masha helps us by telling us what some of it is.
After breakfast we walked to the flea market. Jeans and shoes for Troy, shoes and a skirt for Anna and we bought a volleyball for a teacher. Then to the food side of the flea market. We bought bannanas, cookies, candy and other fruit for their parties.
We went home to drop off some things and pick up the chips. Someone called and we were needed for the paperwork. We went to one office and picked up some papers. While we were working on this the taxi picked up Haley. We went to another office and someone did paperwork. Then to another office. The children had their pictures taken for their passports.
The taxi drove to the other side of town to take the worker home. We decided we were so close to McDonalds that we would eat there before going to the orphanage. By this time it was 5 and we had only had breakfast at 10. No lunch today...we were too busy.
The children kept asking if we would go and do their parties. I said yes. I also told them the sooner we did the paperwork the sooner they would get to go home.
We arrived at the orphanage and asked permission, again to do the parties. We then asked permission from Anna's teacher to do her party. We explained we planned to be there earlier but had to do paperwork. Anna passed our bananas, apples, cookies, candy and the others passed out chips and Sprite. After they finished drinking we passed out stickers and baloons. (I hate to blow up baloons after someone. I'll probably be sick. I blew up a lot after the kids tonight.) We know several of the children well, in her class. We had fun hitting the baloons to eachother for a long time. I would have 6 baloons coming at me at once. I hoped I would not accidentally hit someone while trying to hit them all back before they hit the floor. (It was good upper arm exercise.) Heather started playing and it made it much easier. We had a good time, Anna did too. She mentioned some children that were not in the same room. Anna, Masha and Rachel went to give them all the goodies while Heather and I stayed with her class. Masha had told Anna, when she was upset in the park from not getting something when we gave things to others, that she had better surprises at home. Tonight Anna told Masha she did not take their bananas and cookies because she had better surprises at home. I love it. She is learning to share and give. I really have such a heart to give to others. I want them to have this heart too. I don't want them to just think of themselves.
Earlier, as we were leaving the market we saw a homeless man sleeping on the bench. I asked Troy to take him some of our bananas. He was surprised at the request. He did obey. You could tell this man had nothing. He was so tired he was sleeping on a bench in the middle of the day. There are beggers on many corners in this country. Most are grandmotherly types. It is hard to pass them by. Amy is the one that I usually have take them money. She is small, loving and nonjudging. She has love in her eyes and joy to give to them. Some of my other children have different attitudes. I wish we all had the childlike loving attitude of Amy.
I digressed: After Anna's party we had a few minutes before Troy's party. We talked with some of the children. Rachel and Masha went to buy bananas and more cookies. We went up to his class and started the party. All my girls were passing out food. Troy just enjoyed being served and playing video games. We stayed in a room until his class had come to eat. We were invited into the girl's room. They told us about themselves. Two of them have been there for 11 years. I hope my face did not reveal the shock and sadness I felt for them. Music was talked about. I told them we listened to alot of Christian music. One said she did not used to believe in God but that she was starting to believe and pray. I encouraged her to read at least a little of her Bible every day. It was such fun to be with them. All of us had lots of questions and answers. They told me that they would really miss Troy. They said he was sweet and hugged them when they were down. I love that about him too. I know they will miss that. They had asked when we would leave, I said "when they kick us out". It was time. They wanted to lock the doors.
We walked home. Anna sat on my shoulders for awhile. She is so light, ok, not after a mile or two, but compared to others her age. Troy then carried her on his shoulders home. (Part of my tiredness is from carrying her so much. It is so worth is to be tired to have that bonding with her.)
We are now finished with most of the paperwork in this city. We will go to Kiev soon. Tomorrow we plan to go to Sumi to visit the children we will host this summer. We are all looking forward to seeing them.
Sunday we plan to visit the orphanage one last time. We will either leave Sunday or Monday for Kiev. We don't know when we will be home, yet. We will keep praying.
I am so thankful to my heavenly Father for allowing our time to be done here. I truly believe this is what is best for my children, all of them. We look forward to seeing the children Sunday. I do not look forward to telling them bye. I had a harder time tonight than Anna did saying bye. She is ready to leave and be with us. We had a great time shopping with Anna and Troy today.
It will be good for them to have a little bit of normal in Kiev.

A hard day

Yesterday the kids did not want to go to school. Anna woke us all up at 6. I did not get to go back to sleep. They had stayed up late the night before, because of the excitement of being the first night here together. We did a little with the flash cards to work on their English. Finally. This was my first attempt to teach them. They have been in school 6 days a week. They were tired when we get them. I had decided to wait until we had them all day to start working on the alphabet.
Haley started the morning off being mean to her sister. (The side affects from seeing family yesterday.) Later they were using inappropriate language. I firmly told them to stop. Haley decided she wanted to go to the orph. Unfortunatly she told Anna she would not be back. Anna cried and cried. Haley came back to rescue her? I had told Anna she was coming back. Haley stayed mad and told the orphanage. She told the workers she wanted to sleep there. I said I thought that was best and that she wanted to skip school today but if she was going to sleep there she should go to school. Later she found out that she had to go to school and was not happy with me. I have very little ways of punishing them here. Her punishment is school. I also think she needed the time to say bye to her friends.
We took Anna, Troy, a freind Tan and Oksanna (V) to pizza and ice cream. Tan was having trouble in school and I had hoped for time to just be with her. She was about the only one outside yesterday. She is in Haley's class but they do not like eachother. I had met her in 07 and pray for her. She has hung out with Rachel and I alot. I was glad they gave us permission to go. We had a good time. Nice day for a walk. Troy did use bad language at dinner. I told him to stop. He said he would sleep at the orphanage and I said ok. (Ok, do they really think them sleeping at the orphanage is hurting me?)
On the way back I asked him where he would sleep. He did no know. Masha and I went to make sure Anna's teacher knew she would be sleeping with us. Troy had disappeared and reappeared. He was going home with us.
We had a nice quiet evening. Much needed. My sinus drainage and headache are not making things easier. I was glad to see Troy draw. It is the first time I have known him to sit still that long. Anna played quietly. We started watching a movie. Anna fell asleep. It is after 9 and they are still asleep. A quiet moment.
Today we will buy pants for Troy and Anna, a soccer ball for a teacher, and have a party for their classes. Troy made a long 9 item wish list of things for the party.
They are awake.
Yesterday we did some paperwork. There is a new rule. A new 10 day waiting period. We are hoping this can be waived. The papers we filled out were different from the ones Vicki filled out. We will know more this afternoon. Passport paperwork will be filled out today.
Yesterday, waiting on the van, I prayed it would hurry up and pick us up. God said "Is not my timing perfect?" Again I started praying for something. Again God repeated "Is not my timing perfect?" Many of you know I have prayed specifically for God's perfect timing. When they told me we would not be leaving in the next day or two, I admit I was not thrilled. But then I remembered: God's timing is perfect. I have to be content where I am. I am to be content in His timing. I am praying about whether the children will go back to the orphanage at all after today. Anna will not go back to class. The other 2 are older. Seeing their friends is important. But saying goodbye over and over is hard on them and me. So we will pray and party today.
Tomorrow Sumi!!!! We are glad to have this worked out.
Sunday the children have free time at the orphanage. That is a good time for them to hang out with their friends. We must decide when to end the visits there.
Thank you for your prayers. The journey is a little longer than expected. We are all getting a little weary. I am glad we did get enough sleep last night.
Masha is translating for us and translating documents. She is busy. We try to give her the time she needs. Please pray for her to be rested. She is such a blessing to us all.

All adoptions are different

We went to do paperwork this morning. We had to go to make copies. I needed to exchange money.
I had always wanted the 3 to go with us to their birth city. I had hoped to find their older sister there. They have said they did not want to go until last night and then asked to go with us. We called them this morning to confirm they still wanted to go with us. Yes.
We called a larger taxi, a van. We drove to the city where we needed to do paperwork. The driver found the office and we took the paperwork in to be done. A two hour wait. We ate lunch in the building. It was good. Simple Ukrainian food and cheap.
We all piled back in the van to go look for the town they lived in. 15 minutes later we were there. A few minutes after that we were at their father's fathers house. The door to the house was open. The gate was locked. We called out. No answer. We looked around. There were 2 people in the back yard working in the garden. We thought their grandfather was dead. He and his second wife were working in the garden. We talked a little. He offered to show us the home. I asked to see any pictures of the children. They showed us some and I took pictures of the pictures. They called to see where the other grandaughter was living.
We drove another few minutes. Stopped. There she was. I knew we were to try to find her. I never thought it would be so quick and easy. Many told us it would not be possible. I felt God saying to try. We talked a few minutes. Marina and Haley cried.
I wanted her to have the opportunity to tell her sister goodbye. We gave her our address. Haley cried for an hour or so. She now has a picture of her sister, mother, and father. Anna asked to go back and see her sister again. It was a shock for Marina to find out they had been adopted and were leaving for America. I am glad we went.
Marina is about 21. The children had heard that she went to the night clubs and dressed well. They were mad she had not come to see them. I told Haley I knew she was mad at her. I also told her it would be years before she would be back in Ukraine. This was her opportunity to say bye.
We went back to the city to sign and pick up the new birth certificates. Another step accomplished. Great joy to see the smiles on their faces.
Our driver was so touched by our story he gave us a discount on the fare. He was surprised we had children and were adopting 3. I was surprised by his generosity. We had met him a few weeks ago. We called for a taxi and a van came. Some were planning on walking back to the orphanage that night. We called them to all pile in. The charge was a little more but it was great for us to be all together. We told him we might need him for other trips. Nice van, nice man.
The children are here spending the night. They want to go back to visit their friends. So good night I must put them to bed.

10 Day Wait Over

We received the court decree today. Tomorrow we will go to their birth city to get their birth certificates. We need one more paper signed in the morning before we go.
We had offered to take the children to see their older sister. They have said no for months. Just before they got out of the taxi tonight they decided they did want to go with us. Now I'm praying about what to do. Travel arrangements were made already without them included.
We took them ice skating today with Vicki, Den and Oks. Vicki had a hard day. She needs extra prayer. Vitalik's passport was not ready today. They will take the train tomorrow. We pray they get their paperwork done in Kiev by Friday and fly on Sunday. We went to their apartment tonight. Rachel and Masha went to get us some bread and cheese for dinner. We prayed with them before they left. Vicki is ready to go home.
We have been blessed to spend time with many of the children. God's timing has been amazing. One of the graduates I wanted to spend time with was at the mall with 2 others. We paid for them to ice skate with our kids. It was good to see them having a great time. They were so happy when they left.
It was hard to watch Vitalik say bye to his friends. We know several of them. They all came out and waited for the taxi. It came in the gates. He hugged them all bye. The boys ran out the small gate and lined up and saluted him as he left. It was very touching.
Tomorrow I will go to sign for the children, at the orphanage. They will then be our responsibility. Their attitudes were finally as if they believed it was real...today. The loving smiles are back. The confidence that they are ours. It is good to see.
They have been told that the process is hard. That it will not be easy. I have been told the same. But reality is I have rested in the arms of my Lord and Savior. Knowing His timing was prepared before we arrived. I do not know when we will be home. Guessing around May 3rd. Possibly sooner? I am trusting in God to work out the details. This includes the transportation problem tomorrow and other little things that come up. After birth certificates we will get their passports. This takes days.
We are sad to leave so many of the children we love behind. We will miss their smiling faces and their hugs. Some hugs are long sweet hugs. The younger kids all call me Mama Hollie. It is sweet music to my ears. Anna has been careful to let them know, at times, that I am her American. They accept that fact. They usually call for Anna when they see me. Then come to say hello.
We hope to go to Sumi on Thurs or Fri to visit the 2 we will host this summer. We will have to wait until we have the birth certificate work done to make the arrangements.
God is good. His blessings are amazing. I did not sleep much last night. It was not worry that kept me up. I did not know why. I read the Bible. Listened to my Christian WOW cd. I woke up this morning had breakfast and again lots of Bible and music. God was preparing me for Vicki's news. I cried with her. "Savior you can move this mountain" and Scripture came to mind. I was honored to cry and pray with her. When she called back to say they would help her on Friday, at the Embassy, we prayed again, thanking God for hearing our prayers and moving the mountain of the Embassy being closed to adoptions this Friday.
I did journal while not blogging. We will see what God wants me to post. God answered so many prayers during our wait. We prayed who to give jackets to; those are the kids we would see that day. We prayed to see children on certain days and we would. God is truly amazing. We are loving being with the children.

Bought train tickets

The kids watched a movie before school this morning.

Another long day. Masha and I met a friend at the train station to buy tickets for Ricky, Andrew and Amy. They leave at 9 in the morning. They leave Kiev and Ukraine at 12 Wednesday. Masha will go with them, by train to Kiev. She will stay there until after Easter on the 19th. We will probably see her on Monday the 20th.

Rachel, Heather and I will stay here with no interpreter and no computer. So I will not be blogging for about a week. I will still get my emails on my Blackberry. My responses will be short so don't take offense. I am not quick at texting. I can not reply to Facebook on my Blackberry.

I am glad Masha will get to spend Easter with her family. I know her husband misses her. I want her to spend some time with him. Her sister is getting married soon. I'm sure she will want to spend time with her too. (To me Easter is a family time. I did not want her to miss that because of us.)

I asked Andrew what he wanted to do his last day here. He wanted to go to the mall ice skating. Masha and I arrived there first and went to the grocery store there to buy some movies. We bought snacks for the kids. After eating fruit they went ice skating. Vicki and her 3 came in time for skating. They waited on the train and rode it around the mall.

Our crew went to Burger Club for dinner. After that Ricky and Andrew took the kids back, one last time. Haley was not feeling well.

We had company over for tea and cake. We enjoyed spending time talking. They brought us cany, cookies and a new hazelnut carbonated drink. We like it. We did not like the bread drink we had bought earlier in the week.

Prayer requests: for safe travel for Ricky and the kids. For our safety here. For wisdom in getting around on our own. (We may have to call Masha in Kiev to order us a taxi!)

On a sad note: Ricky and the 5 kids were walking back to the internot to get the older 2 today. Rachel noticed a man lying face down on the ground. She called Ricky's attention to him and asked if Ricky was going to help him. He was blue. Many people just kept walking by. This was on a small children's playground. We walk through it almost every day. Ricky guessed the man was in his mid 40's and that he had been dead for awhile. Ricky had trouble trying to find someone willing to call the police. Finally, someone did call them. I was glad Masha and I were buying the tickets and missed seeing this. But 5 of our kids did see it. They didn't understand why people were not willing to help. I'm sure this subject will come up again. We don't know if the man had family or anything about him.

Anna has made friends in the neighborhood. She loves attention. These girls enjoy playing with her. Ricky has been tagging along while I cook or clean. Things will be different with one adult here.

We live in the country at home. I like the country. Here we live in a concrete jungle. There is apartment building after apartment building. Tons of them that are all around us.

Easter

We packed the eggs and gifts for the day. We all dressed. No fancy Easter dresses here. We did good to find clothes that were not dark. I asked everyone wear something with spring colors. I shuddered as I put on my blue jeans. No girls dressed in new dresses for church this year.
We gathered on the bed and read about the last few days of Jesus' life. We ready about His resurrection and return. Jesus came back to talk with and encourage the disciples. I like that he especially asked for Peter, the one who denied Him 3 times. I find comfort in God's forgiving Peter. Our church this year was in the bedroom. God's Word is worth reading. I could not have Easter without hearing His Word.
Two taxi's and off to the egg hunt. When we arrived the children were cleaning the area outside. They stood on the porch and turned their backs while we hid the eggs. We had a few from the older group come help hide the eggs. It was done in no time at all. We gave the kids the boundaries. And they were off. They had a blast. I told my 4 to make sure they all found at least one. They would come up to us to ask where they were hidden or some every time they found an egg brought it to us to show it off. They were told, by workers, not to eat the eggs and to save them for lunch. We all walked around looking for lost eggs. We enjoyed being around their excitement and smiling faces. They emptied the plastic eggs and ate the candy. The 6 cleaning went back to their cleaning the grounds and the others went back inside.
We walked over to the next playground and hid eggs behind it. Now little Anna was getting into it. She hid the same egg five or six times while waiting on the kids to arrive. Troy, of course, climbed a tall tree to hide and egg up high. The group arrived. We gave them the boundaries. They were older and the eggs were hid better. It took them awhile to find all the eggs. I don't know if Troy told them where the egg was or if one of them spotted it. I did see a boy climb the tree to get the egg. We counted them. At least 10 missing. They hunted the missing eggs. I told them that was about all of them. I slipped Rachel and egg and she took the only boy not to find one yet to look for it. What joy he had when he found it. We thought they were hid to well, at first. I realized they were finding them and hiding them in their pockets. They all wanted to find more. It was fun to watch them.
We stayed at the playground for awhile. We love to be there and hang out with the kids. We saw most of the children we know. Some of the kids were vising with family. The older girls were playing a game with a soccer ball. The boys were on the stadium, playing soccer. Andrew, Troy and many others were on the court playing with balls. The younger girls played a kind of "your it" game. They were all having fun enjoying the sun.
We went to eat lunch. There is a restaurant by the park. We played outside waiting for the food to be ready. Anna spotted that the rides were running in the park. I told her several times, "after lunch". Four of us walked back to the internot to meet the group. The rest stayed in the park playing.
The worker went to get the younger children. They had been sleeping. We walked to the park. They played on the playground for awhile. Then the rode a mini roller coaster, swings, and bumper cars. Troy was aking for more. We decided to give them their gifts. Little Anna was upset she did not have anything. I explained none of my children had received a gift. She pouted a few minutes. The boys received plastic airplanes and flew them awhile. We went and ordered pizza and had them set up the tables. All the kids came, washed hands and sat at the tables. Everyone was smiling. Nat cut up And's pizza, just as Haley had the year before for Anna. I loved to see that. We had to order ice cream because we had done it for the older group. On the way back through the park we bought cotton candy. We had another great day in the park in Ukraine.

Haley had asked permission to go to her friend's house for the day. We saw her only for a few minutes in the morning. We did not see her that night.

Anna had been asking for her present, several times. Troy had disappeared to play with friends as soon as we returned. We took Anna to get her "Easter basket". All 7 of them had goody bags. Because 2 are leaving soon we let the 5 have theirs last night. Rachel's favorite is Hershey's peanut butter eggs. Yes, I surprised her by bringing them here. I had hidden them in my suitcase. Just a little something to dull the pain of missing our family Easter at home. My mom's sisters, my cousins, their kids and others were all together for the annual Easter egg hunt. My kids were missing their cousins.

Decisions: Andrew and Amy will return home with Ricky. Plane reservations are for Wednesday. They will probably take the train tomorrow. Ricky must get to Kiev before one to do paperwork before he leaves.

Happy Easter from The Holmes

Andrew's 14, Congrats Cake and Dinner

I made an attempt to make pancakes for Andrew's birthday this morning. We ate them. I think they are the worst I've ever made. We could not buy syrup here. So I made strawberry syrup. That will make any pancake better.
We worked on teacher's goody bags today.
We boiled and decorated eggs, tons of them. We have about 100 decorated and ready for the egg hunt in the morning. We are all excited about it.
Masha and I ran errands. Sasha wanted us to have a celebration cake. We sent the kids out of the house and went to pick it up. It was beautiful.
We went to the orphanage and confirmed times for tomorrow. We will wait and take the goody bags next week when they celebrate Easter. We wanted to do the egg hunt while Ricky is still here.
For Andrew's birthday we went to let them drive the race cars. I was thrilled when Amy said she did not want to drive. They are big cars and go pretty fast. Troy, Dennis and Andrew went first. Dennis was a little short to drive. I was glad they allowed him to drive. Haley and Rachel drove next. Little Anna wanted to drive, she was too little. Heather and Oksanna chose not to drive.
All of us went back to the apartment. Masha and I had made ham salad for our lunch so we fed it to the other kids for their lunch. They had it on bread with cheese. They also ate nut brittle, bannanas and apples.
The cake: They were all ready to eat the cake the minute they saw it. Everyone was very excited. It was huge. Between the 14 of us we ate half of it. Everyone enjoyed it. It was a nice treat from Sasha.
The 4 had dyed eggs earlier in the day. Now it was time for Dennis, Oksanna, Haley, Troy and Anna to dye eggs. Vitalik came later. Vicki bought Vitalik a new phone and he needed to show it off to his friends. They all had a great time with the eggs. Vicki was included in the fun. She called it therapy. She loves painting and drawing. We used crayons when the eggs were hot and they just melt on the eggs. Our typical design is a cross and flowers. Later after they cooled they dyed them. We also had some wrappers to put on the eggs and put in hot water and the mold to them, beautiful.
The kids went back to the orphanage and we cleaned up part of the mess and headed off to dinner. We had finally located a restaurant we had eaten at last year. We were glad to find it. We thought Andrew's birthday was the perfect reason to go there. Sasha drove 8 of us in his car. Do the math. Ricky holds Amy, Hollie holds Andrew and Masha holds Heather. Rachel was between Masha and I. I think they stepped on her feet a few times. Family togetherness, nothing like it. I was glad to hold my 14 year old boy. Boys that age don't usually sit on their mother's lap. We had a great dinner. The bread was as good as Masha and I remembered. We thanked Sasha and he is on his way home to Kiev tonight.
Another packed day. Another good day. Egg hunt in the morning. Pizza in the afternoon.

Good Friday - Court Over

We had our court date this afternoon. All went well. The judge asked Ricky and I several questions. The prosecutor asked questions as well. They asked the older 2 children questions. It took about an hour and a half. Everyone present had to get up state their name, position, date of birth, before we began. There was a person from the orphanage there, one from what we would call child services, the prosecutor, the judge, 2 witnesses and one I don't know who she was she never spoke, Masha, Ricky and I and the 3 children. We were glad we did not bring the other 4 children. The room was small. They had to bring in chairs for the witnesses. There would have been no room for 4 more children.
We ate M&M's, Haley's favorite, bannans, Troy's favorite, those sweet corn puff things, Anna's favorite with cookies, a Russian drink and sandwiches (sausage on buttered bread). This was their lunch. The rest of us had eaten chicken soup hours before.
Time slipped away. We rushed to cook and eat dinner. Little Anna was late getting back to the internot. She took 2 bannans to eat with her. Haley had spent the afternoon on the phone calling her friends to let them know how it went. The boys went out to play soccer. Ricky took the 2 younger girls to play on the playground. Masha, Rachel and I went to look, again, for the glass that was broken to try to replace it. I'm about ready to give up on finding it and just offer the landlord money. There is a "you break you buy policy here".
We all have been discussing the day. We have been talking about what we have learned. What our plans are for the next few days and how we will accomplish them.
Yesterday, I spent hours trying to figure out what class gets what toys or candy. We plan to take them to the orphanage tomorrow or Sunday. We plan to have an Easter egg hunt with the younger children Sunday. Yes, I flew here with plastic eggs. I probably did not bring enough. Heather has filled them with jelly beans. They do not hunt eggs here. The orphanage has had and Easter egg hunt before. We decided to boil and decorate some too. We hope the children will want to eat them.
So a good day. Court over. Now 10 days of waiting. Then after that we go to their birth city to get paperwork, work on passports and after another week or so we will get to come home. Looking at it now the soonest we could be home is in 2 weeks. We are hearing things will go slow here in Poltava and they will take a week here. There is at least 2 or 3 days work to do in Kiev. We will keep praying and see. That adds up to 3 weeks of waiting and work.
I was able to honestly tell the judge that when we started working with the hosted children we had no plans to adopt. But after meeting them and spending time with the children, we began praying about adoption. It has been almost 2 years since we met Troy. It has been 18 months since I met the girls. They have all changed. It is sad we missed out on that time with them. We could not do anything to get them faster. Nothing was in our control. We waited. We will be waiting again, for weeks. I am glad for this waiting period we can spend time with them.
James 4:4 You do not have, because you do not ask God.
We did ask God. We asked for His timing and His plan. We are now several steps closer to having the children. We ask God again for His plan and timing. Our plans and timing are just not that important.
Ricky is trying to a flight to come home as soon as possible. He has to do paperwork in Kiev before he can leave. There are no flights on Tuesday. He is trying to arrange a flight on Wednesday. He is having a hard time leaving us.
I am so thrilled Masha is with us. She is a great interpreter. Most of all she is a great friend. She has made this whole process much easier. I am blessed to know she will be with me as Ricky is leaving. God's provision is perfect.
On this Good Friday: Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Jesus author and perfecter of our faith. His sacrific was so great. His love for us amazing. Easter blessings to all.

Prayer needed today

I should have posted last night. We were too tired. We were trying to go to bed early. We did not end up in bed until after 10. With 6 of us and 1 computer, computer time is divided. My equal share is after they go to bed. Ricky usually has it the morning. Last night we had the giggle hour, pillow fights included. The kids tell me my rule is not to sing with headphones in. Well after trying to get them to sleep for 30 min. I decided I needed to sing to them. I'm thinking ok when we add 3 more to these 2 bedrooms I may be up every night trying to get them to sleep. Oh what fun? The laughs are fun....the lack of sleep is not.
Yesterday was a hard day for us. Most of us were tired. The littlest threw her second tantarum. The oldest did not like us putting her to bed for it. I gave the oldest permission to put her to bed next time. She did not like that either. The youngest was over the situation in a few minutes. She knew she had was wrong in her behavior. The oldest, well it took her a little longer to get over it. (This is one of those choices to handle it now or at home. I think the other 4 would have had a littly mutany if I had let this go. They know my rules.)
At dinner the oldest asked if she could pray. This is the first time for her to pray at a meal here. She prayed we would work out our problems, thanked God for us and the food. I loved it.
I'm sharing this because the reality is everyone who adopts will have challenges they face. They will all be different. It is hard for these teens to leave their friends. Their friends have become their family. Our oldest 2 have bonded. The boys have bonded. Ricky and I get our hugs every time they see us and when they leave us, but they are not yet bonded to us like they are our children. We love the hugs. We also see them hug others. The littlest has allowed me to comfort her in her time of sorrow. I'm surprised we are to that point already. The oldest thinks she is to old to be parented. The boy, well he will do what it takes to get to our home. He is quick to respond, with words, to others telling him what to do. He takes it well when I remind him we must be respectful of adults and listen. I do not want them giving the workers a hard time. I want him to be respectful. I'm glad he is listening.
The 3 have not had any chores. They are at school most of the day. The 4 are doing some. We do not know how much time we will have with them after court. We do not know if they will continue to go to school or not. Praying over this.
How much these children eat amazes me. The littlest had and apple, bannana, chicken burger, tons of these cheese puff type things, and another apple. She was too full for desert. Every day they ask for chocolate. So I try to buy a chocolate bar cut it into squares and the whole family gets a square or 2 a day. I think they like going back and saying they had chocolate. We figure a square a day won't hurt them. With 10 of us that's all you get from one chocolate bar.
So today we have a meeting. We hear we are lucky to be this far. We pray all goes well today. We know that we are doing what God called us to do. Therefore we believe we have God's favor in this matter. Therefore God will do things in His timing and in His way. To God be the glory.

Green beans and dust?

Today was jacket weather. It surprises me the dust or sand storms that come all the sudden. Often we are walking and we hold our breaths or our mouths get filled with sand. Buses pass by and the dust flies. I did not expect so much sand to be here. Interesting.
We walked to the grocery store this morning. I spent more money today than ever. We tried to buy for a couple of days. We have bought so much here we had enough for a 10% discount. Lots of stickers. We probably were the first to get enough stickers for the discount! I don't see any other families walking around with 7 children. There are workers in the store to watch for stealing. Just about every grocery store we go to has them. I think these get a kick out of watching us shop. They have decided that we pay and are ok. There are lockers at the door to put your bags in before entering the store. I think Amy likes to bring a bag just to lock it and get the key. Some stores charge for this demanded service. Usually Ricky gets to hold the bags at these stores.
We have had a discount on the taxi service. We have called them 6 times and the 7th is free. They keep up with it for us. We have to call from the same number to get the 7th free. Those of you who know me know I think it's fun to get a deal. We usually surprise the drivers by tipping them. One kept telling me it was one copec and not grievna or one of the smallest coins and not the one in paper. Our taxi rides typically cost less than $1.50U.S. Tonight we went to the internot, took Vicki home and then to our home (big triangle) all for $23.70g, we gave him $25g and he was happy. Total trip $4.20 U.S.
More pictures for the kids today for passports. They were not thrilled about having to have them taken again. We are trying to find anything we can do that might help the process go quicker. So we are doing them now and not waiting till Kiev.
We were able to spend a little while at the internot with the other children today. We enjoyed spending time with the children we had met before. It was Masha, Rachel and I that were able to stay there. Reality is 7 of us is too many. They are ok with 3. It was a nice day. The older boys had a soccer game going. The younger children were playing outside on the playground. A few of the girls sang for us. It was great.
We were able to spend some time with both of the workers that we had met with our hosting program. It was good to see them and talk with them. One of them brought us Easter gifts. I have a woven basket, mother hen. She gave each of the 6 of us something. What a nice surprise. The other, from summer, is not feeling well, some serious health problems.
Toby Mac sings "When love is in the house the house is packed" well it was packed again today. We had Vicki, O and D over for dinner. We all packed in around the table all 13 of us!
Finally the grocery had in some frozen green beans. We don't see many greens here. I was thrilled. My 4 ate them without complaining. The new ones were testing the water a little with company. Showing off. So no desert for him. The littlest came back to eat a little later. I gave her the plate of food. She protested. I showed her the apple and cookies. She ate some of the food and then the apples and cookies. Being here you would understand. To me it was expected. For them they were surprised I had rules with company. I told Vicki if they were coming often I had to nip it early. Some things I don't try to tackle, yet. Other things, like skipping dinner and thinking you will eat desert only, I have to handle now. Many things we use the diversion tactic. The other adult usually takes them out or gets them away from whatever. I'm going to miss the other adult diversion. Masha is getting to know them pretty well to. She has decided not to translate, for the kids, unless it is important. She is trying to encourage them to listen and learn.
The boys played soccer outside. They had a good time. I think my 2 middle kids are getting homesick. Little pricessa is happy if she is with us. She does not care if we live here or at our other home. She just wants to stay with us. Love it.
The oldest could have stayed a little later here with Vicki, Ricky and the other kids. She chose to go back with the little one early. She wanted to talk with her friends. I was glas to see some of the little ones. We did get to say hello to a few. Serg is so sweet. He hold on to me forever. He just smiles and holds on. I love to see how they light up when we visit.
In Ukraine adults are called by 2 names. It is formal to show respect. It is a little confusing to me. My understanding is it is not their last name. It is their father's name with child of, included. My Ukrainian name is Hollie Dollie. One of the teachers did finally explain that was not my name. I laugh and they continue to call me it. It sounds more like Hah lee Dah lee. It has grown from one class to several now. It started with kids in jr. high age. So that is now my formal, fun Ukrainian name.
It's late. I need sleep?

Flea Market Again

Rachel only brought one pair of shoes. I was not happy about this. We went to look for her shoes a third or fourth time. I told her she would find something today or I give up. Spending hours for days looking for her shoes was no fun. Yes, she bought shoes today. No, we did not make it to the muesum. The shoe search took awhile.
We bought the littlest a ball and Amy had to have one too. Ricky and 2 kids went to look for something. Forty minutes later I finally found him.
So, if at all possible have 2 cell phones in another country. You'll have a way to find your spouse. We have wished several times that we both had a phone.
We went to the Concord mall to the grocery store to pick up some drinks. Nothing is cold here. You get it out of the cases but the drinks are never cold. We should have brought an ice tray! I have not seen one for sale. We took our drinks up to the top floor to sit by the windows and rest. We did order some Sushi. Those that like Sushi agreed it was good. Freshly prepared for us. There is also a cafeteria style place to buy food - good too.
The oldest did not come with us today. She was tired. I think she wanted time with her friends too.
The youngest has been hugging me all day. She just left. Again begging me to let her stay here to sleep. There is nothing I can do about this. She was a big help with dinner. I chopped and she threw it into the pan. She did eat 2 bannanas, a cucumber and whatever she could get her hands on while we were cooking dinner. It did not stop her from eating her meal. She also managed to eat the small frozen cheesecake bar and cookies. We played ball outside. We seem to get in trouble no matter where we play. Not near my car. Not near my kitchen. We even had someone fuss because we were in a muddy field. We just smile and move. They know we are Americans. So we try to be Christian in our attitude.
Hebrews 4:14b-15 let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but we have one who has been tempted in every way.
We are excited about some things we will be doing the next few days. We pray for God's wisdom and blessing. We pray we are a blessing to others. We are praying about our court date and Ricky's return. He does not want to leave us. We assure him we will be ok.
Had to stop a minute to clean up a mess. I smelled the littlest ones hands. I knew the smell, Ricky's shaving cream. I did not think much of it an hour ago. But now I'm informed it's on the bathrug. I go to look, not just the rug but all over. Cleaning time again.
We talked with mom and my nephew last night. Good to hear voices from home. We usually only listen to Christian music at home. Sorry to say I'm thrilled in the taxi's to hear American music. I had a good time with the Elvis song today while eating Sushi.

Going to history muesum

Today our plan is for a traditional Ukrainian breakfast. Andrew pointed out if they eat whatever is left from last night, why do we have to go to a restaurant? Well at this home restaurant there is not usually enough left for breakfast.
We plan to visit the history muesum.
Our landlord is coming to inspect our apt. I think she saw us leave here with 2 suitcases yesterday and wants to see what we were up to. It could look strange to some. We are not leaving yet. Why are we taking off suitcases? Blankets and houseshoes to the children was the reason.

A week of waiting

Yes, we have a week of waiting. No appointments.
Studying Paul last year, he had a lot of waiting, his was in prison. We ended up hosting because of waiting. We wanted to serve God in our waiting. The same again. We hope to serve God in our time of waiting. We are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us.
We all miss our beds at home. We miss our personal space there too. The kids have watched every movie we brought, most more than once. Occasionally tv will have something American dubbed, but it is not fit for the kids to watch. Last night was the first time I had time to turn the tv on.
The kids want to be here in the apartment. So I spend alot of time cooking with helpers. The ones of us living here do the cleaning.
Yesterday we walked again. We found a map of the city. We bought, a much sought after, wedding albumn for Masha's sister. Heather a tea cup and me a spoon. We took the kids to a nice park to let them play. We went by the dumpling statue and a church. Thankfully we figured out a shortcut back to the apt. Time to cook dinner again, eat and back to the orph. After returning we watched a movie.

Shopping for a dress is hard

Masha and I had a plan. We were going to have Ricky do school with the kids. We would go to the mall to get her a dress for her sister's wedding.
We called the taxi. He took us to a restaurant instead of a mall. We requested a mall. He said there was a new one on the other side of town. Off we went. We were early. We walked to the street market to look for flowers. They had only funeral flowers. Then we walked in the market, just to get out of the cold.
Back to the mall. It opens, it is really new and many of the stores are still empty. We covered all the stores looking for a dress. Most dresses are too short and not appropriate for church, much less a wedding. Most stores have maybe 5 dresses. By this I literally mean 5 dresses. This is not in each size, just 5. We did find a a couple of stores with maybe 40 dresses. This store did have up to 4 of a dress in different sizes. The mall had been searched and we decided to eat at Burger Club there (Canadian).
We knew it would be hard to spot stores from a taxi so we began walking. We were at the opposite side of Central Street from the orphanage. We went in lots of doors. You never knew what kind of stores would be inside. Most of the time there would be about 6 small stores. Each specific to mens, collectibles, children's, undergarments or purses and shoes. We walked all the way to city center. My feet were starting to feel it. No luck at the underground mall either. We kept walking.
We were called and told to be 30 min later to orphanage. We stopped to let our feet rest and had a cappuccino. We walked the rest of the way to the orphanage. We met the kids. Spent a few minutes with the other children and walking again? No way.
I had told Ricky to start without us. He took the kids to get their pictures done. Our kids wanted to leave and we wanted to speak to a few of the other kids. They were finished, with pictures, as we were leaving the orphanage. Masha called us a taxi. Best $1.50 I spent all day.
We did find movies for the kids in the mall, some in Ukr/Rus/Eng. We bought several for future gifts. Most stores have people watching for shop lifters. They were alarmed that I had 4 movies in my hands. He tried to speak to me. I gave my "I'm American" line and he laughed. So then he starts pointing out good movies to me.
I bought some books for them to read. It is hard to choose books, because I am not able to scan over them. We found one book with the Ukr alphabet to help my children with the sounds.
Yes, we ended up with hours of looking and no dress or wedding photo album. Yes, I did buy stuff and she did not. Yes, we did come back and make the kids dinner and hang out as much as we could here. Glad to sit and rest. The oldest played the High School musical game, birthday present, it plugs into the tv. The younger 2 went with the other younger 2 to play soccer outside. The littlest loves to change clothes when she arrives. Then she finds it necessary to walk around the neighborhood so that all can see she is wearing nice, new, clothes. Sometimes we just walk. Other times we thrill her with a stop in the candy store for a handful of her pick. She is quick to share with the other 2. Not yet so quick to share with the other 4. Time.
Ricky asked if I wanted to walk back with them. I told him it was not possible. My feet hurt too bad. I think Masha's too. Again, he walked them back and I did dishes.
I came up with the idea of her getting a dress online from the U.S. We looked for a long time. Reality was that in the first few minutes we had seen more acceptable dresses than looking all day. Now comes the task of narrowing down the choices. I'm just thrilled she has the options! We have covered all 3 malls here and found no great dresses.
The best part of the day: The oldest rushing up to me and giving me kisses and hugs as I arrived. (The littlest always follows after her. She must get a hug too.)