Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted
according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or
slow to do the humble work.

- Mother Teresa

About Me

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Sunny Florida, United States
I am the proud mom to 6 kids: Natasha, 24, Nikolai, 20, Reese, 20, Maylee, 14, Erik, 10 and Violet, 7. The kids come from Russia, Ukraine and China; I'm so proud of my family sometimes I think I'll burst and I needed an outlet for it - so I've created this weblog. :o)
If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one.
- Mother Teresa

Motivation for Moms

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One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.
Mother Teresa

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Saturday, July 25, 2009
So much to say!!

Today marks the "Ten Day Countdown" that is usually marked by recent tradition by the posting of a writing by a wonderful fellow Reece's Rainbow member, Chris Malone, who a few months ago (with his wife) adopted two little boys with Down Syndrome from Ukraine! Their blog is really great and their family sounds like an example for all of us. He gave his permission some time ago for other families to use his poem, and I am honored to copy it here, as it is so fitting:


10 Days Away...and I'm wondering...

I wonder...when it was 10 days before I met God and He adopted me, was HE this excited?

I wonder if His stomach did flips and He got tears in His eyes when He thought about holding me for the first time.

I wonder if His heart ached when He thought about my life without Him as my Daddy.

I wonder if it grieved Him to know that I was living as an orphan and had no hope of a future without Him.

I wonder if He was as okay with paying my ransom as I am with paying our boys'.

I wonder if, for Him, there was no cost too high, no sacrifice too great.

I wonder...

by Chris and Mary Malone


Kinda makes you sit and think, doesn't it? I've known about that poem since he wrote it in February, and I finally get to put it on my own blog! Thanks, Chris!!!

Christine wrote again, saying that she sees Simon almost every day and as soon as he sees her he comes right over to her. She did say, though, that the other kids in his "groupa" are lower level, and because of it, they don't get as much food as the other kids, and as a result, he and his "classmates" are all terribly underweight. Poor little fella!! I'm sure Mark and I will never be the same after this trip.

While he waits, though, life goes on, and I have new pictures to show you. I tried to make them into a movie (for easier viewing) but it was taking so long for me to figure it out that I sort of gave up for now (Who am I kidding? I definitely gave up! LOL). So here they are, in the regular, boring way:

A boy and his dog makes for a wonderful friendship. :o) I LOVE to watch Reese and Adam together!

A hot game of Scrabble! (Except that Mark ALWAYS wins...! You can see it is true: look at the expression on Mark's face and the perturbed look on the boys'!)

How this boy does love to play ball!! Here he is, playing softball. (Softball runs in the summertime here; Little League begins in January and is over already for the season.)


A coach in the making.

Keep your eye on the ball, Rus!


Step back, outfielders!!
(See the yellow ball in the upper left-hand corner?)


(Insert big GRUNT! here)


Okay, anyone who knows me knows that I HATE it when dogs' ears are turned up on themselves! Adam's rarely do it, but this day I looked over at him on the loveseat and BOTH ears were flipped up! UGH!!!! I can't stand it!!


You know, honestly, Daisy is the most cheerful little dog on the planet; but whenever I get the camera out, she gets this TICKED OFF look on her face and it's so hard to capture that delighted look that we so often see! Mark bought her this little "blouse" when she had her hip done, and she normally LOVES to wear clothes (she bounces around and kisses everybody), but not for this picture! You can see that she still will NOT put her leg down on the floor. Her muscles are SO atrophied at this point that we wonder if she'll ever use her back leg again. Poor thing. We do know that her pain is better, though, in that she is NOT acting as depressed and withdrawn as before: she's far more like her old cheery self, but still not using that leg and not wanting it messed with. Bless her little heart...!!


Besides playing base/softball, Reese loves to BOWL!! We used to spend a LOT of time at the bowling alley, but haven't been there much lately. Last weekend we decided it was time to go again, and we even talked Mark into going with us!



Here's Nik, on the approach.


Here he goes!!


What...?!?!

Mark's turn!!
(The best part about being cameraman/webmaster is that no one can see pictures of me unless I allow it!)

A rare shot of the boys sitting together without scowling at each other! We should go bowling more often!



And look who's smiling in a picture!!


Simey, we haven't forgotten about you, honey!! The suitcase is out and will be stuffed full all week! We're coming! We love you!! Ten more days!!!


4 comments:

orphans4me said...

I love the '10 more days' ritual. It is so beautiful.
Joy

Jane Smith said...

Great pics! Mark you are SO handsome! ;o) Good looking boys too! Of course I might be a bit prejudice!! I LOVE that pic of Simon where he is laughing! That's my favorite! See ya soon!
Mom

1blueapple said...

I can hardly wait for you to bring home your little guy and see him thrive and grow!!!

Judy

Carmen said...

I LOVE the flipped ears picture. I think it's so cute when my Sadie gets hers flipped. Of course I immediately put them "right", though. Haha! Poor Daisy... so sad about her leg. Glad to hear she's getting back to her normal cheerful self, though. And your boys... such great pictures of them!

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My family

My family
Nikolai, Mark, Missy, Reese, and Erik

Nikolai, 19

Nikolai, 19

Reese, 19

Reese, 19

Erik, 9

Erik, 9

Daisy

Daisy

Mary

Mary

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