School Is In Full Swing

Here is a picture of the first day of school!!! They all decided to wear their cool-school shirts. I love Mary's set up. She is such a squirt that she needs the plastic box to put her feet on...HAHA!!! Trisha is not pictured as she had an important appointment that day and started school the next. I'll post a picture of her on my next blog post. she has grown so much and really is looking like a teenager!!!

The summer was wonderful!!! We really enjoyed swimming, playing outside, and various day trips we took. I have not been regular enough about posting as we were always on the run...ha-ha!!! Now as winter approaches, and school has begun, I should have more time to update the blog. It seems time has just flown by the last few years and gets faster every year.

I have had a hammer and chisel out as the children's brain rusted over during their break from school;-). Last week was our second week and it went much much better than the first week. They are still in the review process and have yet to begin new concept learning. However, they are filled with zest and desire to learn. John-John is doing very well with his preschool program. He is now singing his ABC's. Although most of them are "a,b,c...kkkkkkk....z...know my ABC's". HAHAHA!!!!

Mary has begun some pre-K work and some kindergarten work. She is getting much better with her eye/hand coordination. Annie is working on kindergarten and first grade material. She is also doing a great job. Katie Aunna is doing both first and second grade work in varying subjects. I am just amazed at how fast she learns and what a wonderful job she has done adjusting to her new life. Christian and Karissa are busy with third grade lessons and also doing very well.

Christian is playing football again this year and his skills just seem to get better and better every year. Both Christian and Karissa are preparing at our church for first communion and should be ready to begin a new spiritual journey with Jesus in the Spring. Naturally, Annie and Katie wanted to take the catechism classes even though it is included in their daily school lessons. But, it will be a great enhancement to their daily catechism in our Catholic home school.

Little Trisha decided that she wanted to spend her last year of middle school with us;-). I am so thrilled that she did make this decision, as I know, she will be well prepared for high school next year. Although, I dread the peer exposure she will have next year, she has been well prepared for making right choices. I am praying for her to be a wise teenager and place God as the head of all her decisions.

Now, about Mr. Casey...he is getting to be such a beautiful young man. He is a head taller than I am and his shoulders are getting very broad. I think he is going to be such a sturdy and solid built man. Considering, he will be sixteen years old in October, he's a very good kid!!! He is doing high school curriculum and seems very capable of having a successful school year. I am really enjoying teaching them and now consider it my God given full-time job.

It seems such a wonderful investment into my children. I know that no one knows them as I do. Therefore, only I can give them all that they need. God has been very good to us to allow this opportunity. Certainly, it is wonderful to have them with me so much of the time. I really don't want to miss any part of their lives. They are my heart's beat!!! As the Holiday's approach...there is much to be thankful for and in celebration of...many great days to come. Many blessings!!!

Where Has The Summer Gone???

I can not believe that summer is coming to such a fast close. Late this afternoon, when the kids and I swam, the cooler temperatures were very noticeable. It has been wonderful to enjoy the warm sunshine and playing outside much of the day. The thought of winter (cold and windy days) approaching is not too exciting for me or the children. However, the Holidays are so much fun with the kids and I just love the beautiful Fall colors.

The major activity I love about winter time is school. The children have all their new books for this year and are quite excited to begin their lessons. Casey is not so happy about starting the new school year. But, everyone else said they are happy to begin soon. Only two more weeks until we start the new year. Since, we did not finish our work until the middle of June, we will not begin until the middle of September (the 14TH to be exact).

I have been very busy the last couple of weeks getting things in order and going over their new books so that I will know what is going on in advance. My only regret about home-school is that I did not do this for Casey before the public school system in our area failed to give him a love of learning. This is the major difference in my older child/grandchild and my younger ones who have really never known anything other than their Catholic home-school. They really L-O-V-E it.

Though Casey enjoys his time off from school, when I offer to send him to public school, he emphatically shakes his head "no"!!! I also must admit that his grades and academic abilities have drastically improved from his former years in public schools. Trust me...I cut NO slack when it comes to education. It is my belief that when they go to college they will receive no slack there. So, it's best for them to earn that grade by learning the material well.

I also don't believe in allowing a student to experience failure and sadly move on. How unfortunate that many high school graduates are illiterate (Google "high school graduate + illiteracy"). Mastery is very important in gaining confidence in learning. So, I am ever present to explain everything before they move on or test. Certainly, they have no learning blocks or test stress (among the grade school age) and only some stress with the two older children (Casey and Trisha). Again, I think that has a lot to do with the public school system here in our area.

Okay....I will get off my soap box and promise to give you an update on the last few weeks of summer (with new pictures) very soon. Also, I will post in regard to the beginning of our new school year. I do want to acknowledge, for those who are not avid homeschoolers, and are happy with the public school....there are some wonderful communities whose systems are very successful and satisfying.

However, the way we choose to educate our children is such a personal choice. One which I am most grateful to have the freedom of choice. I want to excitedly wish you every success this year and pray for many blessings to you!!! Now...let me change the subject to an interesting perspective from the children this afternoon following Mass.

Duane, the children, and I went to visit my parent's grave. They were such sweet parents to us and we miss them so very much. We find a comfort in visiting there periodically and making sure their grave site is nice. The summer grass was growing too close into their head stones. So, Duane and Weldon took the weed-eater to groom it up a bit. I just have to share this experience from the eyes of the children. Usually, we go to visit just my parent's grave and do not ordinarily go with Duane when he does maintenance on the graves. But, today the kids all clamoured to go out there with us.

I did not want any flying debris to hit them and so we began to stroll through the cemetery. They would run over to a head stone and remark about what it said or the date of birth or a picture of the person. They began to notice that these bits of information gave a brief introduction to that person.

One stone had a German Shepard (Karissa's favored breed of dog) on it next to a picture of the owner, another had the symbol of the Masons on one side and the Eastern Star symbol on the other. Still other stones had military insignias or the rank of a person while in the service of America. They soon began to realize that there are two dates on the head stones.

Christian with wide innocent eyes asked; "Mommy, why is there two dates on some and only one date on others?". He was so surprised to find out that some people had not passed away yet and that this was their planned place of rest. They then began to figure how old a person was which revealed how long they had lived....more information for curious little minds. It shocked them when some were babies, children, teenagers, and young adults. I think they expected elderly people, but the young ones, were a bit much to absorb. As they ran from grave to grave, discussing these people, a car with two women drove up the road and parked.

When they got out of their car and stood with their loved one they watched my children gathering information on people. I kept hoping and praying that this would not be offensive to the ladies. My children were excited, and their little voices calling out to each other about the person they were learning about, was anything other than quiet or mournful.

Much to my surprise...I over-heard the older lady say to the younger one; "It's nice to hear God's children being so happy here. The laughter and joy of childhood...it's so wonderful to hear." The ladies joined hands (probably mother and daughter...I assume) and got into their car.
It made me feel that bringing the children there, and letting them gather this information was important to not only us, but it lightened the hearts of these two ladies.

Perhaps it was a feeling of the natural process of life in the physical sight before our very eyes. A peek into Heaven...maybe. As we drove home little Mary said; "Mommy, there is just a whole bunch of people there and so I bet there are lots of people in Heaven. Right Mommy???" to which I responded...."That's right, baby!!!" Until next time...Many blessings!!!

Happy Birthday Katie Aunna

Katie Aunna enjoying dinner with Mama and Papa;-)
Here she is waiting for Papa to come home from work.
Surprise!!! A new "big" girl bike for her birthday...LOL!!!
This was Katie Aunna's referral photo...what a huge change has occurred in her since then!!!


I just can not believe that she is now having her second birthday since coming home. Last year we were just getting adjusted when she turned 7 y/o. It absolutely amazes me that she is now 8 y/o!!! She was her usual happy self yesterday getting dressed to go outside to play and swim. Her face lite like a light bulb when I wished her a happy birthday. I think she almost forgot.


The first questions from her were "Can we go out to eat with just you, me, and Daddy tonight? Oh...and do I get a new toy???" I couldn't help but chuckle at these straight faced serious questions. I told her that we certainly would go out to eat and she could get her new toy after dinner. Here a few pictures of the big 8 year-old in our house.


God is so generous and good to give Katie to us. She is a darling little girl and has been everything I have dreamed that she would be. Happy Birthday to my darling little girl;-). Many blessings!!!

Happenings for July

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Hi everyone....sorry I have not posted in a while. We have been really busy playing this summer!!! The kids swim every day and I think we are all getting very suntan;-). I decided to take a picture of the top of their hands compared to their palms. I was a bit surprised at how extremely suntan they all are...LOL!!! They just don't seem to tire of playing outside and swimming in their pool.


The kids love to eat outside at their little picnic tables. One picture I took just makes me laugh!!! Just as I went to snap the photo of Katie Aunna and Karissa eating...Katie points her chicken leg at Karissa and says "BANG...your dead!!!" Of course, I said "Honey, we should not shoot our sister with our chicken leg." All the kids burst into laughter...naughty kids;-).


Let me say that the Fourth of July Celebration was fabulous. We had our annual picnic at Green Acres Lake (more like a pond...LOL). There was so much food that day and the fireworks were wonderful. The gathering with family and friends is always something we look forward to each year. There was so much to eat as everyone always brings something delicious. I love my cousin's egg-rolls and chocolate covered strawberries!!!


As I sat there enjoying everything, Katie came over to me, crawled into my lap, and wanted to talk. Being there rather gave Katie Aunna and I a flashback to last summer. We had been home from Russia a little over a month at this time last year. She fondly recalled coming to this park and watching the beautiful fireworks. It was one of her very first outings. Then one thing led to another in our conversation and she began to recall our first few months at home.


Katie Aunna told me about how she understood what we said to her last year. But, she found it difficult to respond fully in English. Then she put her arms around my neck, sweetly kissed my cheek, and said the nicest thing in my ear..."Thank you Mommy. Having a home is so nice!" Now how darling is that??? She has been an amazing little girl full of happiness and joy. Katie Aunna has really blended well into her family. Our life without her seems to never have existed for us. God has been so good to our family and so perfect in giving us the children that He has. He is truly a great and wonderful God worthy to be praised!!!


More good news....Last week I flew to Dallas with Karissa for another check up with her surgeon. We had a good report that she has healed well from her surgery and she is tumor-free. Another moment to praise our Lord for His generosity. She does have a little more moisture than he would want to see on her eardrum. However, Karissa has been swimming daily with her custom made ear-plugs. The doctor wants to see her again in January. He said they usually follow a child with reoccurring tumors for two years following the surgery. She does have a loss of 40 decibels in her hearing. He says this is not a bad thing when we consider she had no hearing before surgery in her left ear. So, some hearing is better than none;-).


On the lighter side of things....We went to see the 3-D movie "Ice Age 2" and it was really cool. I recommend it highly. The children were so adorable sitting in the theater's afternoon matinee with their 3-D glasses on. John-John was amazed and his little body moved with the show. It was difficult to watch the movie as I kept watching the reaction of the children...LOL!!!! Well, I guess that pretty well updates July for us. Gotta go play with the kids now;-). Many blessings!!!

Burrowing Owl

"Tuffy The Owl" so named for his remarkable skills at surviving. This is not our owl....but, a picture of one just like Tuffy. In person, their eyes are more green than yellow. But, the one pictured above, has fluffy down on his chest like the young owl we rescued on Monday.....

Day before yesterday I was sitting on the patio watching the children swim. I heard a crying noise that was similar to screeching and crying. Initially I thought it was some of the baby Prairie Dogs fussing with each other. They often make a crying type of screaming andbarking noise with each other when they fuss;-). I guess kids will be kids no matter what!!! So, I just ignored it for a while. But, as it continued I became concerned.

When I went out into the driveway, behind our house, I found a baby (just old enough to begin learning to fly) Burrowing owl lying in a small area of shade. The hot summer sun was just about to be fully upon him. I was so shocked as I squatted down next him. He was making direct eye contact with me and whining. I felt so sorry for him and asked "Awe...poor little fellow...do you want me to help you?" He tipped his head to the side and continued to look at me and cry.

Usually, an injured animal who is wild will bite....he just laid his head down on my out stretched hand and cried. I have NEVER seen anything like this in a wild animal!!! Just about that time, Weldon came into the drive, bringing Gracie home, from her grooming. He takes Gracie for me and then brings her home to me each Monday. He got out of his truck and said "Oh, Mama, he is hurt. Look how he is looking at us!!! We have to do something for him. I can't believe he is acting so friendly. Does he need some water?"

Weldon, went into the house for water and a towel, while I shaded the little owl from the searing hot sun. This baby owl lapped up the water like a little dog would drink. We had a small plastic milk crate we placed him in and I began to make phone calls to find someone who could help us. When Duane got home from work and saw him it touched his heart as well. Turns out that Duane knew his secretary's mother is a conservationist. This wonderful woman set it up for "Tuffy" to go to the South Plains Rehabilitation Center in Lubbock, Texas.

They think he may have flown into something and has neurological damage as he can not fly. He was dehydrated and somehow managed to collapse in our driveway and there he cried for mercy. Now he is in professional hands, as the girls and I, drove him over to Lubbock for their expert care. These owls (like our tarantulas and horny toads) are becoming very limited and are on the endangered species list!!! They live in the tunnels of Prairie Dog holes and are nocturnal feeders. The Burrowing owls can be seen sitting on the edge of the holes next to our property in the early evenings between the months of about March through October.

Annie Is Growing Up

Yesterday the children were playing outside. Annie came running up to me exclaiming with great joy "Mommy, my tooth is loose". She opened her little mouth to let me feel. Sure enough, her bottom tooth was very loose. Just barely hanging on, I knew soon it would come out, marking the next maturation phase of her life. When she proudly ran off to play, I just cried, as it has come so fast. Today, I was just attempting to absorb that my little Siberian Princess had a loose tooth, when at bedtime snack she ran to me with her little tooth in her dainty hand. Annie is all tucked into her bed and anxiously awaits the Tooth Fairy...aka...Daddy!!! She still makes a beautiful photo. Here is Annie with one less tooth;-).

Ring The Bell

My flowers are beginning to bloom. Aren't they lovely!!!

Beautiful Annie rings the bell with her last paper finished on her desk;-).

Next handsome Christian gets his turn!!! Big 3rd graders;-)

My beautiful Karissa is proud to end her school year!!!

The Arctic Princess...Katie Aunna rings the bell...now for some dessert...LOL!!!

Well the end of school has finally come for us. Only, Casey will be working, during the summer months...on MATH!!!! He is not too happy that I did not let him "off" the hook. It was so funny...Katie Aunna closed her last school book and said: "Mama, we have to ring a bell to say good-bye to the school year!" She wanted to know why we did not have a school bell and how would we celebrate this accomplishment.

I then did a little research and soon discovered that in Russia a bell is rang by the children to indicate an end to the school year and also it is rang for graduations. There is usually a big celebration of food, drinks, and desserts. Now, Katie has such a sweet tooth, that any excuse for cake will do;-). She was sure to add that after the bell rings they get cake and foods to eat.

Duane and I took Christian, Karissa, Katie, and Annie out for dinner at their favorite restaurant with dessert included!!!

It was so nice to be with the four of them. Before dinner we went to Mass. It was so cute as they discussed what they were going to eat as we drove to the church. The bell they rang belonged to my grandmother from her childhood school in Oklahoma. Her school teacher gave it to Grandma and my mother gave it to me when I graduated from college!!! I never dreamed at that point in time that it would be used for my children to signal an end to their school year.