Pizza Picnic!!!

We home school all year round. That way when opportunities to travel or to entertain guests come up, we have the flexibility to adjust our schedule and adapt. Since we do school all year round, we also have the ability to go a bit lighter on Fridays.

We have also traditionally scheduled the many many orthodontist appointments the kids have had through the years on Fridays. On beautiful summer days like today, we indulge in one of our favorite treats: a pizza picnic. Little Caesars Pizza is just down the street from our orthodontist. Little Caesars sells their LARGE pizzas for a mere $5--perfect for an extra large family! Yippee!!! Yahoo!!! A super easy meal in the city's rose garden shared with one's favorite people...the blessings abounded!

I took advantage of the beautiful day and the green backdrop to practice my photography skills on three of the girls. I'll have to catch the others another time.

This pizza picnic was a quick one before other Friday appointments took precedence over fun and fellowship. We all sure enjoyed the return to a relished family tradition.

Kirsten and Matthew's Graduation and Future Plans

This weekend we celebrated the high school graduations of Kirsten and Matthew. Both of these kiddos are among the nine we've adopted from Russia. Both have been home schooled since the day we brought them home.

We adopted Kirsten Nadezhda in November 2010. She has no biological siblings, although now she has a houseful of siblings though adoption!

Kirsten is the only one of our nine Russian adoptees to have started high school in Russia and finished in America, and she didn't speak any English when she arrived. What an accomplishment! We're very proud of her!

Kirsten has had a lifelong passion for horses since living with her grandmother on a small farm in rural Russia as a little girl.

Kirsten's dream now that she's completed high school is to become a horse trainer. She hasn't yet settled on which school would be the best fit for her. As she continues her research, the Lord has provided a wonderful opportunity. Kirsten will be working for about two months this summer at a Christian Guest Ranch that is also a full time cattle spread with over 35,000 acres in western Nebraska. Most of her duties will include caring for the guests who come from around the world to ride in this "old west" setting.

Photo Credit ~ Faith Reynolds

Matthew Vladislav's adoptive story is nearly the opposite of Kirsten's. He was adopted at age five way back in 2001. He was the youngest of a trio of siblings. Zhenya and Sarah are his biological siblings. They were eight and seven, respectively.

When we began educating Matthew, we were scared! He was so far behind on what we thought every five-year-old should know. The most basic concepts eluded our new little boy. We wrestled with hopelessness and projected the worst in our minds. Math was by far his weakest subject.

That was Matt then. What a work the Lord has done in this young man! Matt is now a strong academic who loves to learn. Mathematics is now his strongest subject.

Matthew plays the piano but is an accomplished guitarist. He's also a vocalist and a song writer. He just plain loves to make music!

Despite his love of music, the yearning of Matt's heart will take him in a far different direction than the music field. Since he was a little boy, Matthew has dreamed of being a U.S. Marine Officer. Like Kirsten and her plans, we're not completely certain what the immediate path to the goal should be. We'll use this next year to solidify his plans. In the meantime, Matt would like to spend at least a couple of months on the missions field overseas. We figure this will be great preparation for the rigors of military life.

When the world thinks of older orphans, they often conceptualize lost causes. Now that four of our older Russian adoptees have graduated from high school, we would like to debunk that myth. Our kiddos have met their academic requirements, and they overflow with so many giftings that a career choice for each of them is difficult. God is so good. He does heal!

"First-Time Voting" Tradition

Mrs. Beaver:

In our family we consider ourselves utterly blessed to live in a nation where we're allowed to vote. Our awareness of this wonder is probably heightened by the many ways in which our lives are intertwined with Russia. In fact, nine of our children's birth grandparents lived through communism's repression of rights in the former Soviet Union. Having a voice in our political system is an amazing privilege!

When our children vote for the first time, it is our family tradition that I take them out for coffee immediately afterwards. Today, Jaynie (19) and Cassandra (18) cast their votes alongside their mom and dad just after 7 a.m. Then we headed to Le Mars for a breakfast indulgence.

Jaynie (left) and Cassandra just after voting. Ready to mark an important milestone with early morning coffee!

A Kid's Dream Come True!

Mrs. Beaver:

After a nearly winter-less winter, northeastern Iowa finally got snow today. Many thankful children in our home, watched eagerly in the early afternoon as the white precipitation flew sideways.

I took these photos during the time each afternoon when I read aloud to our youngest four children.

I wasn't surprised to see Oksana's happy countenance as she watched the snow fall. If EVER there was a child who loves sledding, it is Oksana!

While his sisters watched the weather, Alexander was more interested in his Legos.

Although Alexander hadn't shown much interest in watching the snow, he was more than eager to play in it. By late afternoon, the wind had calmed enough for those who've waited all winter for snow play to go out.

Homeschoolers don't usually take snow days. While traditionally-schooled children get time off for weather, we just keep pluggin' away. But tomorrow I'm calling a snow day around here. What fell today is the wet, sticky kind of snow that is a kid's dream--perfect for fort building, snow angels, snowball fights and the crafting of snow men.

I better get the hot chocolate ready!

Everything's Coming Up Roses

Mrs. Beaver:

Yesterday we celebrated the end of another school year with a picnic at a local park.

The rose garden doesn't have picnic tables nearby so we just placed our meal on a set of stairs.

We kept this end-of-the-school year celebration simple--Little Caesar's--$5 per large--best deal in town for a large family!

Everybody was happy...

...including our two dogs. We didn't share our pizza, but we allowed them to sample the left-over soda that I'd bought the kids as a treat.

Poochita didn't think much of the Mountain Dew. she just looked up at us with an expression that said, "WHAT is this stuff?!?!?"

Sunshine, on the other hand, lapped up every drop.

A normally hyper puppy on "Dew"...hmmmmm....

...perhaps we should have given this decision a bit more thought!

I'm as happy as these yellow roses are cheery that another year of home schooling is finished. Completion is always rewarding, but this year even more so.

In November, through adoption, we added three new students to our "one-room school house." We all had plenty of adjusting to do. Our new ninth, sixth and first graders had, of course, never been home schooled.  More significantly, they didn't speak English. This year the three of them worked in Russian textbooks we'd purchased in Moscow. Mr. Beaver knows just enough Russian that he could make sure they were staying on track. Daria and Alexander also made use of Rosetta Stone to study A LOT of English. Oksana is learning the language through immersion.

The challenges were plentiful, but God's grace was even more plentiful. With His never-failing goodness, we made it through this tough "first." This is one adoption first we're happy to celebrate, certainly don't mind putting behind us.

Exploring a Winter Wonderland

Mrs. Beaver:

Just one of the many things we love about homeschooling is the freedom that the lifestyle affords. For many years we have home schooled year round. This way we can use Fridays for out-of-the-ordinary activities, like baking Christmas cookies or going to a museum.

Yesterday was an unusually warm Friday in late January so we took advantage by going for a hike. Elizabeth (second from the left), one of my girls' dear friends since their early childhood, was visiting from Minnesota while on a short college break.

Because Elizabeth was with us, she was able to take a photo that included me and the kids.

After the group shot, we started the hike in earnest and were a bit disconcerted to discover just how deep the white stuff was. In true "mother" style, I suggested we give up and return to the car. Thankfully, the kids talked me into going ahead as planned.

We ended up having a blast despite trudging through 12-18 inches the entire hike.

Alexander was down-right gleeful. What eleven-year-old boy wouldn't enjoy a good romp

in the snow and the chance to hurl snow balls?

At the kids' request, we brought both dogs. They, too, seemed to enjoy our white playground.

One of our canine lovers, Cassandra, was 11-year-old Poochita's aide on the hike.

Daria cared for our puppy, Sunshine. Daria and her charge often ran alongside the trail that the rest of us were blazing in the virgin snow. This gave Sunshine the opportunity to plunge her snout in the white blanket repeatedly. Since Sunshine is part terrier, we presumed she was looking for small prey. Thankfully, her skills as a field-mouse hunter still need honing.

The rest of us had enough to do to just trudge through the deep snow.

By about half-way through the hike, our jeans were soaked to our knees, but the beauty of the morning kept us from misery. We gloried in the splendor of God's creation.

For Tessa and Elizabeth, the hike, which took about three times as long as it usually does, afforded the perfect opportunity for fellowship. Elizabeth will be one of Tessa's bridesmaids. 

As the hike went on, Princess Bink (left below) and Natasha grew tired

but helped each other keep moving by holding hands.

Both of these former orphans are still so petite even though they were adopted almost six years ago. Princess Bink, almost nine, weighs just over 40 pounds. Natasha who will be eleven in a few weeks just recently topped 50 pounds. Neither of the girls has yet to make it onto even the bottom of the height-and-weight charts used by physicians.

Princess Bink and Natasha's first mother drank a great deal of alcohol when she was pregnant with each of each of them. We've been told by physicians that one of the outcomes of a pregnant woman drinking too much can be the permanent stunting of her baby's growth. We pray and pray that the Lord, the Great Physician, will heal these two precious girls and enable them to reach full adult stature despite their rough start in life.

Being just six-years-old, Oksana got a boost from her oldest brother, Joe.

In fact, the last third of the trail is a steep, winding hill. Joe carried his little sister the entire way.

When Joe first saw Oksana's photo when we were early in the adoption process, he told us emphatically, "She just has to be ours! She just has to be ours!"

Joe's heart was stolen by the young, dark-eyed beauty long before he had the chance to meet her. Now he is proving to be a picture-perfect older brother to this little girl who is an answer to his prayers, a dream come true.

My man after successfully carrying his 40+ pound sister up the long, steep hill.

Once we reached the end of the circular hike, we still had to walk a short distance on a very muddy dirt road to get to the van. When we reached our vehicle, Cassandra and Daria cleaned the dogs' paws with snow and then lifted them to the waiting transportation that would carry them back to their well-earned mid-day bowl of dog food.

Once the dogs were settled, each of us had to transfer into a clean pair of shoes and place our muddy boots into a large plastic bag.

Here, Tessa is pointing out what a trend-setter she is wearing two different shoes. Meanwhile, Princess Bink is hoping someone will hand her extra pair of shoes over the top of the seat.

Before I climbed in the van, I was able to witness a sweet interaction between Daria and Sunshine.

Until just two months ago, Daria was an animal-loving orphan who had no animal to love.

Now the Lord has provided a comical, naughty puppy to laugh about and adore.

In fact, as I was watching the two of them interact from a distance and taking these photos with my telephoto lens, I heard Daria whisper to Sunshine in Russian, "I love you!" Then, in English, she followed that with, "Do you understand??."

No matter what the language, I think our formerly helpless mutt and our formerly hopeless teen understand each other perfectly.

Last fall we entered the pet store to buy dog food, but ended up with a new dog instead.(see An Important Lesson) We felt (and I'm sure many others did also) that we were crazy to be adding an animal to the family just before adopting three children. At the same time God seemed to be tugging at our hearts saying that this silly, naughty dog would be part of the healing the He would bring about in Daria and Alexander. I believe that healing has begun.